


Soundless Hearing

by Confused-Bird (DoomedTimeline)



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Alternate Universe - College/University, Arguments, Attempted Sexual Assault, Building Fire, Dating, Fire, Graphic Injury, Happy Ending, Lance has claustrophobia, M/M, Misgendering, Scars, Self Esteem Issues, Shiro and Keith know ASL, Tags Are Hard, They love each other, anxious lance, background Shatt, broganes, college students being college students, couples fighting, hospital stays, ignore my dorky text names, issues in general, keith is a good boyf, keith is deaf, lance is a hero, lance is oblivious, lance is trans, pining lance, they almost die, they get hurt, theyre Trying, very cute dates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-27
Updated: 2018-05-24
Packaged: 2019-04-13 20:17:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 23,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14119989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DoomedTimeline/pseuds/Confused-Bird
Summary: There was this guy named Keith in Lance's friend group. He seemed pretty weird, not talking much, always wearing headphones, and knowing sign language. Any other guy would completely get on Lance's nerves.but to be honest?He kind of liked him.





	1. Part One

“Quiz on chapter fifteen is in like a week.”

“Didn't we just start it though!?”

“Yeah, but Iverson doesn't care.”

“It’s like a hundred pages in the textbook!”

“We’re only using the even parts, I think.”

Lance let out a groan and flopped backwards, letting his textbook fall aside. Such was the life of a twenty-three-year-old Aerospace major college student who missed class way too often for work. Three chapters to catch up on, a midterm to study for, a test, and several papers that needed to be done by the end of the week. At least he had his friends to help him: Pidge the resident computer programmer, youngest of their class, only nineteen years of age and a complete gremlin in their own right; and Hunk, his best friend, the man he couldn't live without, literally. He made sure Lance ate and used him as his guinea pig for all his new food concoctions, which were good nine times out of ten.

“It’s your fault,” Pidge frowned, picking up his textbook with great effort and dropping it onto his chest. “You’re the one who got a second job.”

“Yeah and I need it to even pay for these dumb textbooks I barely get to read. Why are they hundreds of dollars anyways!? Rip-off!” He whined, slowly sitting back up. He let out a long sigh as he looked over borrowed notes, copying them onto his own paper and comparing them to the textbook.

“Oh, I just bootleg mine.” Hunk hummed, finally looking up from his own laptop. “It’s cheaper.”

“That is illegal and you’re gonna get a virus.”

“Not with the Pidge-approved adblocker.”

“Whatever.” He huffed and looked over at the fourth member of their study group. Keith. Lance didn't exactly remember how he had gotten into their friend group, just knowing that his brother was the T.A. Keith had barely spoken the whole afternoon, just giving short and quick responses to anything someone said. Frankly, it was starting to get on Lance’s nerves.

“Yo, Keith, Buddy. What are you working on?” He asked. No response. To be fair he wasn't even looking over in his direction and he had earbuds in. Fine then, ignore him. He reached over and snapped in Keiths direction, scowl on his face.

The sudden noise made the boy flinch and finally look over in Lance’s direction.

That was better.

“What are you working on?”

“Transferring notes,” Keith quipped, looking back down at his computer to write something down. “What’s the time?”

“Almost six thirty.”

Keith just hummed, still looking at his computer. A few seconds later he sighed and looked over at the rest of the group, all of which were looking in his direction. Lance watched as Keith's face heat up, looking away with a glower.

“I’m gonna head home,” he mumbled, slowly shutting his laptop and collecting his papers together. “Later."

No one said anything as Keith shoved his stuff into his bag and quickly left the dorm.

“Did I do something?” Lance asked, very confused at Keith's abrupt exit. He didn't think he had said anything.

“He didn't even take some of my brownies with him," Hunk frowned, setting his laptop aside.

“I dunno, we probably did something without thinking about it." Pidge yawned, stretching her back out.

“He never talks, I was just trying to get him to." Lance huffed, flopping back once more.

“I mean he doesn't like talking much _at all_. He even got an excuse for our debates so he wouldn’t have to do it.” Hunk sighed, slowly standing up. “Anyway, do you guys want pizza? I feel like pineapple.”

“That is disgusting.”

“Don’t judge my taste in pizza!”

“I can and I will, and I will pay for pizza if we just get cheese.”

“Fine then.”

___

Lance dropped his bag under his desk as he slid into his seat, yawning loudly as he leaned back. Just another day of classes. He watched as other students quickly filed into the lecture hall, talking amongst themselves as they got into their own seats.  Thoughts of Keith drifted into his mind. To be honest he actually kind of did like the guy, he wasn't a jerk like most of the other people on campus were.

The classroom buzz died away as he started reading over his notes from last class, rhythmically tapping his pen against the table.

Ten minutes until class started.

He wondered where Keith was. He normally sat next to him.

Lance sat up and looked around, brow furrowed in concentration. It took a few seconds but he finally located the signature mop of hair he knew so well, sitting all the way across the room towards the wall, in the first row even! Truly a betrayal worthy of Julius Caesar. An indignant sound came out of Lance’s mouth as he pulled out his phone, opening the messaging app quickly.

**Lover Boy Blue** : _Yo mullet_

**Lover Boy Blue** : _what are you doing all the way over there_

**Savagely Emo** : _Shiro asked me to help w/ a new student_

**Savagely Emo** : _wdy care?_

**Lover Boy Blu** e: _Im just used to you sitting next to me_

**Savagely Emo** : _k then_

**Lover Boy Blue** : _dont u just k me_

**Savagely Emo** : _k_

**Lover Boy Blue** : _jerk_

**Savagely Emo** : _Class s starting, u should pay attention to that_

**Lover Boy Blue** : _you cant make me_

**Lover Boy Blue** : _maybe ill just sit here the entire time doodling grossly inaccurate and muscly versions of Shiro_

“Mr. McClain! Perhaps you’d like to put your phone away and join the class?”

Lance’s face flushed in embarrassment as he quickly dropped his phone, picking up his pencil.

“Sorry Professor Iverson, Sir,” Lance said, turning his phone off.

“Perhaps your talent wouldn’t be wasted if you didn't misspend your time, considering in the class you’re only second best to Mr. Kogane over there.” The professor said, his gravelly voice enunciating every word.

Lance’s face went vacant, not allowing it to show his feelings. He kept his head down.

“Sorry Sir.” He grit out, starting to write something on his paper, he wasn't actually paying attention to what he was writing down.

“Anyway,” The professor continued, starting to drone on about the lesson, something about theoretical deep space travel and the history of space travel. Lance only listened, writing down all the notes he deemed important enough to write down, which happened to be most of it.

He paused midway into the lesson, looking over the notes he had taken. He really needed to work on his abbreviation and shorthand. He just shrugged it off and focused in on Iverson’s lesson again, realizing he had gone into a much more boring section of the lesson, at least Lance had already read that section of the textbook.

“Now space travel isn't like getting into five multi-colored lions and fighting an intergalactic war. That’s only for sci-fi and here we talk about science.” Iverson went on. It seemed like it was going to be one of _those_ lessons.

Lance sighed and looked around the room, mind drifting a bit. His eyes focused on Shiro, the TA, over by the professor, directing hand motions over to the corner of the hall when he wasn't helping Iverson pass things out or write important notes on the board.

_ASL?_ Lance thought, propping his chin on his fist. He knew very little ASL, just enough to get by. The new student must be deaf he guessed.

Lance watched for a few minutes before looking over to Keith, who was writing diligently, focusing intently on Shiro’s hand. The girl next to him tapped his shoulder lightly, getting his attention before doing a flurry of motions. Oh, so Keith knew ASL too?

Didn't expect that out of him at all. Lance leaned back and sighed softly, rubbing at his eyes. God he was tired. He was ready to just go home and take a twenty million hour nap.

___

It seemed that nap was thwarted. Hunk had decided to drag him off to the grocery store with him. It wasn't entirely a bad thing as he got to pick out some of his favorite snacks but right now he just really wanted to go take a nap.

“Watch the cart, I’m gonna go get in line for the deli,” Hunk ordered, making sure Lance had a hand on the cart before walking off. If someone left a cart unattended it should be assumed that they are in line somewhere, not that they just left it there and went on with their business.

Lance let out another loud yawn, pulling the cart over to the side so it wasnt in the way of people walking through the store. The sound of mindless chatter in the store washed over him, just relaxing and dozing against the shelving. It was actually kind of relaxing, almost white noise-

“MOMMY!” Some child wailed loudly, tugging on their mothers dress. Lance groaned softly and looked over watching the scene unfold because it was right next to his goddamn ear.

“Mommy, pick me up!” The child whined, starting to crawl up the cart, only to be ignored by the mother who continued on with the conversation she was having on her phone. Lance watched as the child tried climbing up further, only to lose their footing and fall to the ground, starting to cry. Loudly. He looked around. Did literally nobody else care about what had just happened? He stepped out from behind the cart and walked over to the child, kneeling down before them.

“Hey there kiddo, its okay,” He hummed softly, pulling them up slowly and brushing them off a bit. “You’re okay-” he assured, only to be cut off as the mother pushed him back by his head, picking up her child protectively.

“Don't touch someone else's child!” she yelled, opening her mouth to say more but Lance just held up his hands in surrender. He grumbled out a small curse as the woman walked away with a huff.

He stood back up and looked around, keeping one hand on the cart. He did not want to get yelled at by Hunk for leaving the cart unattended.

Something interesting caught his eye. Keith was over in the nearby aisle, standing on his tiptoes in an attempt to reach something on the top shelf, clearly struggling with it.

“Keith!” he called, waiting a few seconds to see if he got his attention. Lance sighed when he didn't. He probably had earbuds in again. He pulled the cart over with him this time, moving around Keith. He made sure to keep the cart out of the way as he reached up to where the other was reaching, picking the box up and handing it to him.

He noted that Keith had flinched when he reached above him. That was his fault for not noticing Lance walk up in the first place.

“Hey Keith,” he hummed, moving to the side of him. He finally looked up and let his shoulders drop in relief.

“Hey.”

“So what are you doing? I mean like, aside from struggling to reach things.”

“...getting groceries with Shiro? What else would I be doing here?” Keith huffed, tossing the box into his own cart.

“I don’t know! Maybe just killing time?”

“Yes, because I would waste time standing around in a _grocery store_.”

“Look man, I don’t judge where people spend their time.”

Keith let out an annoyed huff, scowling up at Lance.

“Did you come over just to annoy me?” he asked, exasperation clear in his voice.

“No, I was dragged here with Hunk.”

“Same, I was dragged here with Shiro.” Lance laughed a bit, leaning against his cart. Seemed they were both there against their will. Keith smiled a bit and glanced away, looking over the rest of the items on the shelf. When was the last time he had seen Keith smile? It was kind of cute.

“Anyways,” Lance said quickly, shifting uncomfortably.  “Sorry if we did or said anything to chase you off at our study session last night. We were trying to include you since you weren't talking that much but then you just ran off and we were a bit concerned, but also for a bit I thought you were avoiding me in class this morning because of what happened, but uh, yeah. I’m sorr-”

_“Lance,”_ Keith wheezed, his brow furrowed in concentration. Lance stopped, breath caught in his throat. Anxious thoughts running through his head, thinking the worst possible scenario.

“Just… slow down” he said carefully, keeping his eyes trained on Lance. Lance shut his mouth and floundered for a few seconds, taking a breath.

“I’m sorry if we did something to hurt you last night,” he said again, slower this time. He watched Keith shrug and wave him off.

“It’s fine, I was getting a headache so I decided to leave.”

Lance frowned but nodded slowly.

“Okay then,” he said softly, only to jump as a hand came down on his shoulder from behind. He turned quickly and sighed. Just Shiro.

“Hey Lance,” he said, pulling his hand off of Lance’s shoulder. “How have you been?” Lance just shrugged, glancing away from the both of them.

“I’ve been good I guess,” he sighed, closing his eyes for a second in an attempt to regain his composure.

“That’s good,” Shiro smiled, setting what was in his arm into their cart. “Sorry about Professor Iverson this morning.”

Lance glanced over slightly, watching as Shiro’s hands moved. _ASL again? He must be still on class mode._

“It’s fine,” he practically spat, face souring. “I don’t care that much-”

“Lance, lets go!” Hunk called, apparently finished with the deli. He flinched again and looked over at the impatient roommate and sighed.

“I’ll see you guys later,” he mumbled, grabbing his cart and walking over to where Hunk was. He really wanted to get out of this store now.

___

It was game night in their little friend group, and this time it was Pidge’s turn to host it, even though it ended up being held at their brother’s house. Hunk was providing food, Lance was providing a few games, Keith, the others, and Pidge, the space. Matt, Pidge’s brother, came with the package since he lived there and Shiro came too since he was Keith’s brother and dating Matt. Lance flopped onto the couch of the living room, splaying out and taking up most of the space. His usual thing, even though the others yelled at him for it.

Pidge gave up and ended up sitting on Lance’s legs, trapping him there. He didn't mind though, if he really wanted to he could always use his superior strength and dump them off.

“So what games do we have tonight, my friends?” he said, doing his best Inigo Montoya impression.

“Let’s see.We got…” Matt quickly looked over their selection of games, now scattered on the floor. “Monopoly, Scrabble, Game of Life, Candyland, Chess, Munchkin, Cards Against Humanity, aaaand… Battlestar Galactica…?”

Lance whistled lowly, thinking about their game choices, clearly unphased by the Battlestar Galactica game.

“I’m putting my vote on Cards Against Humanity.”

“Same.”

“You all better be ready to get destroyed by my amazing sense of humor!” Matt yelled, diving in front of the couch to open the card box.

“Jesus dude,” Pidge huffed, getting out of his way “Do you have to do that every time?”

“Yes.”

Three rounds later, it was clear that Matt was not the one winning, it was Hunk. And he was supposed to be the _innocent one_. They finally decided they had enough of the game and filtered through the others, eventually deciding on Munchkin since most of them hadn't played it.

Yeah, it was a bust. They barely lasted two rounds before just settling on Life. They would have agreed to try and play a one shot of Dungeons and Dragons, but both Keith and Pidge had practically fallen asleep at that point. Keith had fallen asleep against Lance’s shoulder by accident.

_Why did he have to be so cute?_ Lance thought to himself, brushing Keith’s hair out of his face absentmindedly. _He’s even snoring..._

“Okay guys, I think it’s time we all start heading home,” Shiro yawned himself, then slowly standing up. “We’re all falling asleep at this point.”

“You and Keith can stay here tonight,” Matt piped up, sitting forward like an expectant puppy.

“Matt…” Shiro warned, crossing his arms, sighing at the giant puppy eyes he received. “....Fine.”

“Get some dude!” Lance laughed, pulling away and Shiro picked Keith up off of him.

“I’m gonna take Keith to your guest room,” Shiro commented before walking off down the hallway.

Lance sighed softly and looked over at Hunk picking up Pidge as well. The big man looked tired as well, but it was worth it, they played a lot of games; and Lance didn't get teased for getting flustered whenever Keith spoke to him. They said goodbye to Matt a few minutes later, starting the walk to their dorm all the way across campus. They probably should have driven here to be honest.

“Hey Hunk?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m getting weird feelings on Keith.”

“Well, what do you want me to do about it?”

“Well it's not like bad feelings, it's just feelings.”

“So you have a crush on him?”

“Yes- No… I don't know? Emotions are complicated, and I’m kind of scared that if I try to ask him on a date he’d just reject me or people would say I admitted to only being second best.”

“Okay, where the heck did that even come from?”

“Which part?”

“Admitting to being second best.”

“I dunno, if I don’t bicker with him it would seem I don’t want to be better than him?”

“Do you want to be better than him?”

“No… Not really…”

“Well, just give it a few more weeks. Maybe you’ll start to understand your feelings.”

“Maybe...”

“Hey, can you two shut the _fuck_ up,” Pidge groaned from Hunk’s back, only barely looking up to give them both the stink eye.

“Go back to sleep gremlin.”

“Don't call me a gremlin.”

___

Lance yawned as he tied his apron around his waist. He should not have stayed up that late playing chess and talking with Hunk, especially since his shift at the coffee shop was at 8 in the freaking morning. He checked the time and sighed, 7:56. Great.

He slipped his headband on to keep his hair out of his face, his coworkers realizing that he was not playing today. They knew when the headband came on, he was certainly not in the mood to be dealing with anyone’s shit.

Another minute passed as he put the rest of his stuff in the back. He walked up to the front, quickly putting on his customer service face. He scared Pidge with it one day, such crude fakeness that sounded so real and so ready to please.

Lance looked over by the counter, looking at the line of customers in front of his coworker’s till. He walked over quickly and unlocked the other till, starting to take customers and writing their orders down and putting their names on cups.

He let his mind start wandering once his muscle memory kicked in. He wondered if Keith got coffee in the morning. He knew the guy barely slept but whether he lived on coffee or energy drinks he didn't know. He wondered what Keith’s favorite type of coffee would be. Caffeinated? Decaffeinated? Why was he thinking about Keith and his fingers wrapping around a warm cup of coffee that _Lance_ made, and drinking it softly, enjoying it so much. His eyes looking between his fringed dark locks-

“Hey Lance,” his head jerked up quickly. Shit, it was Keith. He felt his face flush a bit as he realized that Keith was wearing leggings and a tank top, which he looked _really_ good in.

“I- uh, hey Keith,” he said, cheeks heating up a bit. He breathed out softly and looked over at Shiro who also walked up. They were both sweaty, like they just got done an early morning jog.

“So, can I interest you boys in some… coffee?” he chuckled, bouncing his eyebrows at them. His eyes caught the movements of Shiro’s hands, sluggishly moving along, he noted that Keith was watching them too, keeping his gaze down.

“Yeah, can I get a double espresso with a thing of milk and caramel?” Shiro smiled, clearly unaware of the fact that he was still signing.

“Can I get a caramel mocha?” Keith said, fanning himself a bit.  Lance nodded and quickly wrote their names down on the cups.

“Alrighty. Did you guys just get off a run or something?” he asked, looking up as he set the cups aside.

“Yeah, just finished a five mile run,” Shiro answered quickly, pulling out his wallet to pay.

“Five miles!? It’s not even eight thirty dude.”

“We started at seven.”

“You two are monsters.”

“Good health and exercise are worth it.”

Lance just shook his head and worked the transaction, placing the cups on the counter to be done.

“I’ll see you guys later, I have to get back to work.” He smiled as he handed Shiro the receipt. They waved to him quickly before moving over to the other counter to wait. Lance wanted to stare at them for a while longer but the long line of customers decided otherwise.

___

When he got back to the dorm, Lance flopped on the couch with a long groan. He was finally home after a long day of work and classes, too tired and sore to keep anything on his mind. If anything he could get the image of Shiro holding his fists atop each other and slowly moving the top one in a circular motion. Lance pursed his lip as he scrubbed over his face with his hands, what did it even mean?

“Oh, hey Lance.” Hunk called from the kitchen. “Didn't realize you were home.”

“I literally yelled I’m home when I walked into the dorm dude.”

“Don’t judge me, I was appreciating classical music while I made dinner.”

“I will always judge you.”

“Fine then, no comfort food for you.”

Lance jerked up with a loud protest, staring at Hunk’s traitorous smile. He began to shake his head slowly while Hunk nodded, the silent conversation of ‘no you wouldn't’ ‘oh yes i would’.

“I concede!” Lance yelled, flopping back onto the couch, thinking about Shiro’s motions again.

“I always win,” Hunk called as the timer went off, pulling what he was making out of the oven, letting the delicious smell emanate into the living room. He set the tray aside and walked over behind the couch. “Lance? You seem pretty distracted.”

“I just keep thinking about what Shiro did this morning, a specific hand gesture,” he explained, flopping his hands about. “Do you have any idea of what it might be?”

“Well, Shiro knows ASL right? You sure he wasn't just doing that?”

“Well yeah, I know he was doing that.” Lance sassed, sitting up to look at Hunk. “I just want to know what it means.”

“I can’t tell you what it means if you don’t show it to me, Lance.”

He only rolled his eyes and stacked his clenched fists on top of each other, slowly moving the top one in a circular motion.

“Coffee,” Hunk said, walking back into kitchen.

“Oh, why would he be signing though?”

“Well you were at work right? You work at a coffee shop.”

“Well yeah I get that part but like, why was he even signing?”

“I don't know dude.”

“Maybe he was still on class mode or something,” Lance sighed, standing up and walking into the kitchen, seeing the tray of fresh lava cookies.

“Oooo,” he purred and reached to grab one, his hand quickly being smacked.

“No cookies, not until they cool down,” Hunk ordered, giving a stern glare.

“Fiiiiine”

___

Time for class once again, much to Lance’s dismay. When he finally walked into the classroom, he noted that Keith was sitting in the same place as he sat last class. He made a face and decidedly moved from his usual seat over to where Keith was sitting, plopping his stuff down as he slid into the seat. Keith was partially curled up over the desk, scribbling something furiously on his note paper. He just shrugged it off, last minute notes probably.

Lance looked around for a second, noticing all the students who sat in this section, there were at least a few with hearing aids he noted. Okay then. He didn't realize that they had that many deaf students in the class. At least they made accommodations for them?

“Hey Keith” He hummed, looking over at the other, who hadn't looked up since Lance sat down. After a few seconds of being ignored, Lance poked his shoulder.

Keith let out a startled squawk and ripped the earbuds from his ears, glaring over at Lance for a second before his gaze softened.

“Hey” he said softly, leaning back in his chair. “Why are you over here?”

“You didn't sit in your usual seat, so I decided to join you.”

“You didn't have to.”

“Yeah well, I wanted to.” Keith gave him an odd look at that statement, his face flushing a bit.

“Okay,” Keith said a few seconds later, breaking his gaze. “Just don't distract me during class?”

“You got it dude.” Lance chuckled as Keith rolled his eyes, turning back to his paper.

Class started a few minutes later Lance idly leaning back in his chair. Iverson started off the class with the usual long speech that usually had nothing to do with the class so Lance ignored it. When they _finally_ got to the lesson, Lance looked up and wrote down notes accordingly, though his eyes strayed over to Shiro every once in a while. He was signing as he had the previous class, still in the direction of this part of the class. Lance watched for a few second before glancing at Keith, who tracked every single movement. He was probably copying down the translated, aka easier version, of the lecture notes. Lucky. Lance had to just sit and listen to Professor Iverson drone on about every single point.

An hour later, the lecture had finally ended. It felt like a million years went by to Lance though, he stretched as the people around him began to pack up and leave. Keith got up as well, shovelling all his papers into a neat stack before shoving it in his bag.

“Hey Keith,” Lance said, looking up at him. He looked over a few seconds later, letting out a soft sigh.

“What?”

“You should teach me sign language,” Lance joked “That way I can get the better version of the lesson from Shiro.” Keith frowned and slung his bag over his shoulder.

“If you want to learn, look it up yourself.” He snapped, brushing past the other and making his way up the stairs.

Lance sat there for a few seconds, watching as Keith left. Good fucking job Lance.

“What did I do this time?” he mumbled to himself, starting to push his own stuff together. He didn't notice the person walking up to him until he was directly in front of him, a shadow being cast over his desk.

“Hey Lance.”

He flinched slightly before looking up, only to relax.

“Hey Shiro, need something?” Lance asked, casually flipping his notebook closed and slipping it into his backpack. Shiro rarely initiated conversation between them, so him suddenly coming up made Lance nervous.

“Not really, I was just wondering why you decided to sit over here rather than your usual seat.”

Oh.

Okay.

“I just wanted to sit next to Keith is all” He said, starting to gnaw on his lip. “He didn't sit next to me last class and he used to need help with some of the notes.”

“Okay then,” Shiro said softly. Lance could feel his critical stare burning a hole into his skull, trying to tear it down and make him confess to crime he committed.

“Hey uh, Shiro?”

“Yes Lance?”

“Did I-... is there something wrong with Keith? I keep saying things and I can’t tell if it’s offending him or what.” He hesitated, biting his lip as he played with one of the straps of his backpack.

“It’s not exactly my place to say, Lance.” Shiro said, crossing his arms. “Maybe you should ask him that”

“Yeah… okay…” Lance frowned, standing quickly and shrugging his bag on. “See you next class.”

Shiro waved as he left quickly, thoughts of Keith on his mind.

Lance was pretty sure he wouldn't ask Keith about it, he didn't want to make him more upset at him.

___

“Pidge,” Lance whined, flopping back against the floor. “I’m bored.”  

“We have to keep studying for finals, jackass.” Pidge retorted, rolling their eyes. “But if you want to stop then go right ahead.” Keith looked up from his computer, frowning at Pidge’s antagonistic words. He looked over at Lance before nudging Shiro.

“You should keep studying, Lance.” He sighed, setting down the his papers. “You’d have to retake the class if you don't pass.”

Someone, Lance was pretty sure it was either Keith or Hunk, asked him to come down to their study session and explain several topics that Iverson had ‘neglected’ to go over in class but were apparently in the final. He didn't exactly object to Shiro’s being there, but sometimes he seemed like an overly concerned dad, something Lance did _not_ ask for.

“Maybe I don't care if I fail, Iverson can go suck my ass.” Lance huffed. “It’s not like he really cares about the class failing, he’s a fucking sadist.”

He didn't hear the shuffling of feet around him, as he rambled off all the very disgusting things that were definitely better than Professor Iverson.

“Studying sucks donkey butt.” he mumbled, closing his eyes.

He was met with his jacket being thrown at his head. An undignified squawk left his mouth as it hit him, he sat up quickly, pulling it off of his head.

“What was that for!?” he yelled, looking at the gremlin. They, and everyone else, were starting to pull on their own jackets and shoes. “What’s going on?”

“We’re gonna play a game” Pidge said, walking up to him and kicking his thigh.  “You’re playing too, no objections.”

“Well what if I did object.”

“It’s campus wide hide-and-seek, you love this game.”

Pidge was right, he _did_ love that game. Lance hummed and jumped up, pulling on his jacket quickly.

“House rules?” He asked, slipping his shoes on.

“House rules.” Pidge agreed.

“What are the house rules?” Shiro asked, zipping up his vest.

‘Shouldn’t Shiro be the one telling us not to do this?’ Lance thought, before opening his mouth to respond.

“No going into classrooms or lecture halls, No crawling into vents,” He gave Pidge a pointed glare at that one. “Don’t lockpick any doors, don’t _lock_ any doors, you must move every twenty minutes, and those not found by two am are the winners.”

The others nodded, looking amongst each other. It was quickly decided that Shiro would be the seeker, giving everyone else ten minutes to get out of the dorm and find their first hiding place.

Lance dashed out of the room, quickly finding his first place to hide, which happened to be behind the bar of the common room. He chuckled softly. Nobody was going to find him here, Shiro _specifically_ didn’t like going into the disgusting common room to begin with.

He stayed there maybe fifteen minutes when he heard quick and light footsteps approaching. He froze, keeping his breath soft so he wouldn't make any sound.

A hand came forward and slapped over his mouth, almost making him scream. Lance looked over quickly to see it was Keith, pressing a finger over his mouth. He pulled the hand off roughly, totally not blushing.

“Get your own hiding spot dude” he whispered harshly.

Keith only shook his head and looked over his shoulder before pointing up at the ceiling. Lance furrowed his brow and looked up, only to be met with his reflection staring right back at him, since when did they put a mirror there.

Keith’s hand tightened against his, making him jerk back and look at the other. Lance barely got time to say something before he had been pulled up, practically being drug out of the room until Lance had thought to actually meet his pace.

“Keith-”

“Shut up and trust me,” Keith whispered, looking back at Lance with a mischievous smile. Lance felt his face heat up, looking away. Fuck, his smile was cute.

Keith lead them down a hallway Lance didn’t exactly recognize, then again he didn't recognize most of the wings he didn't have classes in.

They passed several pretty good hiding places, and he had pointed them out to Keith each time, only for him to shake his head and keep pulling.

Lance was starting to get antsy, he was definitely not going to lose and with each passing minute they actually weren’t hiding just made him moreso.

Eventually Keith tugged at his wrist, getting his attention before pointing towards a slightly open door labeled ‘supply closet’.

Lance felt his stomach drop. He knew how small those closets were, two people barely fit comfortably, and Lance really didn't think he could handle being in such a confined space with Keith. Hell, he didn't even like being in such a small space _by himself._ Claustrophobia and all that _fucking jazz!_

Keith pulled him excitedly towards the closet and he couldn’t find himself objecting to it. The door was pulled open by Keith before he pulled the both of them in, letting the door start to close behind them.

It was dark and small, just like Lance knew. Everything was going to be fine, he tried to assure himself, taking a breath and looking around. He could barely even see Keith’s face.

The door shut with a loud thud, making Lance jump. They were left in complete darkness. This was fine, they were going to be fine, the door was unlocked, they could easily get out if they needed too.

He squeezed Keith’s hand to assure himself that yes, he was still there. Lance felt himself smile a bit, looking in the direction he was pretty sure Keith was. They sat down against opposite walls, their legs having to cross over each others due to the small space.

Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, even though the silence began wrapping itself around Lance’s throat with a vice. Maybe silence wasn't such a good thing anymore.

“So…” he started softly, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles slowly. “Why did you help me?”

“Because it was a dumb location and I know how you hate to fail.” Keith said, no hostility in his voice.

“You still could have left me there to be caught.”

“I… didn't want to see you get upset.”

“Oh~” Lance teased “So you care about me~”

“Oh shut up.” Keith laughed. Lance felt his heart to a somersault, had ever heard Keith laugh before? Lance felt himself chuckle, getting all too giddy and forgetting the invisible vice around his throat for a minute.

“It’s almost time for us to switch locations” Keith sighed, his face being illuminated by his phone screen.

Lance nodded and slowly stood up, using his own phone to search for the knob. He took a breath and shut off his phone before starting to press down on the handle.

Only, it didn't budge.

Lance swallowed down the lump that had suddenly formed in his throat and tried again.

It still did not budge.

The vice that held Lance’s throat grew to squeeze his lungs. No, oh fuck no. This could not be happening.

“I-.. Keith?” Lance said shakily, looking over at the other. He tried keeping his calm, he really didn't want Keith to hear how panicked he was starting to feel. “The door’s locked.”

“What?” how could he sound so calm in this situation. “Let me try.” Lance pulled away and pressed himself against the shelf, sucking in a shuddery breath.

He heard Keith try and open the door, only to quickly get pissed off and kick it harshly.

“Okay, plan B,” Keith huffed, pulling out his phone again. “Text someone we’re locked in here and get them to come let us out.”

Lance could only nod, sinking to the floor and curling into a ball.

He needed to stay calm.

He needed. To stay calm.

He needed to stay cal-

“Shit, I don’t get reception in here.”

He didn't mean to, but an ugly sob left his mouth as tears started to bubble down his face.

Damnit. Damn it all.

“Woah, shit, Lance it’s going to be okay.” Keith tried to assure but it did nothing.

His sobs only got louder, the vice squeezing his lungs and throat until he felt like he couldn't get any more air in, suffocating him with subsequent sob.

He felt Keith touch his shoulder, but he recoiled and curled further in on himself. It felt like the darkness was only closing in, trapping him inside his own body with no means of escape. They were going to be trapped in here, all night. There was no way for them to get out-

The door opened slowly, letting faint moonlight slip into the room.

“I see you boys are in need of a hand.” A gentle voice came from a silhouette in the doorway.

The next few minutes were a blur, apparently the school’s Dean, Doctor Coran Smythe, had heard the door slam shut and come to investigate.

The boys stood there opposite the principle. Lance was preparing to get yelled at, he was even preparing to get expelled. He rubbed at his bloodshot eyes, still shaking slightly from what happened but mostly feeling emotionally blank.

“I’m not going to yell at you two,” The Dean started, crossing his arms. “I’m just disappointed that you two are treating the school like it’s your playground.”

You know what? Lance didn't care.

“I’m going to let you two off with a warning, but if I catch you doing it again, there will have to be consequences.”

They nodded slowly, not meeting the Dean’s eyes.

“Good, now head off to your dorms. A good night sleep is always good for classes!”

He was too cheery for it basically being the middle of the night.

Lance watched him walk down the hall, disappearing around a corner.

“...Lance, I-”

“Shut it.” Lance snapped, pulling out his phone. “I’m texting Hunk.” He saw Keith deflate out of the corner of his eye. It hurt, but it also didn't. He really didn’t care about Keith’s opinion right now.

**Lover Boy Blue:** I forfeit.

Lance left, leaving Keith standing there alone in the hallway.

He didn't care.

He wanted to be alone.

___

He hated it, being weak. He was supposed to be an all round tough guy, yet here he was moping around in his goddamn bed because he had a panic attack in front of Keith.

God, he was fucking stupid.

Lance received a barrage of texts from Keith the following morning, but he ignored him. He didn't want to talk to him just yet.

He only left his room to head to classes and do the other basic things for survival. Considering he wouldn't hear the end of it from Hunk if he didnt eat anything. The first day he went to class, he sat in his usual spot, far from the corner side. This was the best he could do to avoid Keith without missing class. Almost thirty minutes into the lecture he couldn't help but look over to the section, only to feel a pang in his heart that Keith wasn't there. Lance shrugged it off and continued to listen to the lecture.

But he didn't show up the following class, or the next.

Lance trudged into the dorm and dropped his bag next to the door with a sigh.

“Hey Hunk.” He said, not bothering to look up. He began making his way over to his room when he felt Hunk grab his wrist. He tensed and stopped, turning to look back at his roommate. Hunk was scowling, but he looked more worried than angry, which was both a good and bad think.

“Lance,” Hunk started, tightening his grip on his wrist. “We need to talk.”

“Talk? About what?” Lance tried to laugh. “Everything’s peachy keen with me.”

“We both know that’s a bald-faced lie.”

Lance’s face soured, biting his lip. He sighed and pulled his wrist from the others grip, moving to sit down on the couch.

“If you want to talk, fine. Lets talk.”

The couch dipped under Hunk’s weight as he sat down. It made Lance lean over slightly but he quickly righted himself.

“You can’t keep this bad attitude up forever dude.” Hunk started, shifting so he was facing him. “You’re messing up the mojo of my kitchen.” a strained chuckle left Hunk’s mouth, trying to lighten the mood at least a bit.

“Sorry,” Lance said, crossing his arms.

“So… What happened.”

“Keith happened.”

“I got that far, elaborate.”

Lance groaned and rubbed his hands over his face. He didn't want to talk about this, but Hunk wouldn't leave him alone until he did.

“I… had a panic attack in front of him.” Lance admitted softly, dropping his head back against the couch.

“Lance…”

“He pulled me into a supply closet during the game and the door locked behind us… it was really small and cramped… I was scared.. A-and I didnt want to seem like a wuss to Keith, s-so I tried to tough it out.” Lance curled up on himself, hugging his knees to his chest. “But then we didn't have reception to get one of you guys to help us… and i-... it all kind of went overboard…” Lance’s face was wet now. When had he started crying?

He felt Hunk’s hand on his shoulder, rubbing soothing circles into it. It helped, a little bit.

“It was suffocating,” Lance continued, rubbing at his eyes. “I hadn’t felt that bad since… since high school and when I transitioned. I-I felt weak, and scared, and embarrassed that it even happened in front of Keith. I hated it… He’s better than me in literally every way.”

“That’s not true-”

“Oh!? Are you sure!?” Lance snapped, throwing his hands in the air. “He’s top of the class, He’s got people that actually like him, he beats me in literally everything we do, he’s an _actual_ guy with a dick, and to top it all off, I _like_ him.”

Hunk frowned and pulled Lance close, wrapping his arms around him loosely. It took a few seconds but he relaxed into his friends grip, letting his head rest against his chest.

“This whole thing makes me feel like a helpless idiot” He whimpered softly. “A helpless idiot who’s in love with another idiot”

Hunk shook his head, rubbing Lance’s back.

“If I can tell you anything, you are not an idiot, you are not helpless, and you are one of the manliest men I know.” He tried, giving an assuring squeeze. “I’m pretty sure Keith has problems too, have you tried talking to him?”

“Fuck no.”

“ _Lance._ ” Hunk scolded, pushing him off enough to look in his eyes. “Hear him out for me, okay?”

“...Fine” Lance sighed, scrubbing at his face and pushing his hair back.

“Good, Shiro’s coming over to help me with class things.” Hunk smiled, standing up before heading into the kitchen. “Go get cleaned up dude.”

“Fine, _mom._ ”

“Don’t talk to your mother like that!”

That pulled a small laugh out Lance. He stood a few seconds later and walked into his bedroom, quickly changing. He stood there by himself for a few seconds, just thinking about their whole situation. He heard the front door close and sighed.

_Guess Shiro’s here,_ Lance thought, tugging at his shirt. He took a deep breath before walking out the door.

“Hey Shiro-” Lance stopped. Keith. Why the fuck was he here. It was just supposed to be Shiro.

“Hey, Lance.” Shiro smiled, going over and sitting on the couch. Keith awkwardly waved, moving to sit across from his brother. 

Lance’s face soured as he slowly walked over and sat in the spot next to Shiro, sitting down and crossing his arms as a child would. Hunk came back over from the kitchen, setting down a tray on the table. He made Keith move into the other seat so he and Shiro could talk easier. So now Keith was sitting across from him, great.

They had been there forty minutes at this point, and a single word had come out of Lance’s mouth. He even refused to look at Keith. He would not be the one to give in first. He noticed Keith looking longingly at him, but he still refused to acknowledge his presence, as much as it made his heart feel like lead.

“Uh… Lance?” Keith said softly, scooting closer as much he could. “I’m sorry about making you have a panic attack-”

“No.”

“...what?”

“I don’t want to hear it right now.”

Lance noticed that the others conversation had died down, watching them carefully, even Hunk’s soft glare at his last statement.

“Lance, just listen-”

“Why should I!?” Lance huffed, finally turning to look at Keith. “It’s not like you listen to anyone else!” Keith flinched at the statement, opening his mouth to make a retort only to be cut off by Lance.

“You never take part in discussions, you don't talk to us in study group, it takes me like five times just to get your attention, you always have your earbuds in like you don't _want_ us to talk to you,” He ranted, waving his hands about. When had he started standing? “You think you’re better than us because you don't have to ask questions about notes!? Well lucky fucking you! Stop being the best at everything for a change! See how it feels! You’re better than me at everything! Getting good grades, finding good hiding spots, hell you’re even better at being a **guy** than me! So stop being an emo jerk for once, you hear!?”

Lance looked at Keith’s face again, which was drawn into a scowl but also definitely _not_ looking at him. He followed his gaze to see Shiro furiously signing away, apparently trying to keep up with Lance’s words.

“Why the hell do you keep doing that!?” Lance yelled, getting annoyed at almost everything now. “There’s no one here that needs ASL! You do it all the time and it doesn't make sense-!”

“Lance!” Keith yelled, standing up hard enough the couch jolted back. “Shut up! Don't yell at Shiro!”

“Why!?”

“Because I need it! I literally can’t hear you! I’m deaf, you fucking asshole! Shiro is signing for me!”

Lance finally shut his mouth, staring at Keith. He fell back, looking away. He really was a fucking idiot, an asshole too. He rubbed his eyes quickly and curled up away from the eyes on him.

He heard Keith sigh and step closer to him, kneeling in front of his chair. Lance closed his eyes tightly, cringing away from Keith. He felt his hands touch his shoulders, pulling him forward into a hug.

“I’m sorry.” Lance said, his head right next to Keith’s ear.

“It’s fine, you jerk,” Keith sighed, pulling away slowly. He moved back to his seat and sat down, flushing slightly at the eyes on him.

“So…” Hunk started, breaking the silence. “I had my suspicions but… why didn't you tell us?”

“I didn't want you guys to treat me differently.” He admitted, looking directly at Hunk. A lot of things made sense to Lance now.

“What about hearing aids?”

“Oh, I have them,” Keith said with a shrug. “I don’t like wearing them all the time since they’re mostly broken.”

“They’re only broken because you got into too many fights.” Shiro scolded, giving Keith a disapproving scowl. “I can always get replacements for you.”

Keith just rolls his eyes. “And be weak and dependant? Yeah right.”

“ _Keith._ ”

“Look, it’s fine.” Keith huffed, waving off Shiro. “Just don’t treat me any different and don’t talk at a million miles an hour.”

“...I’m guessing that’s why you always wear headphones?” Lance asked quietly, looking up at Keith. He didn't respond and before Lance could say it again, Shiro just signed it out for him. Maybe he should actually learn sign language now.

“Yeah…” Keith sighed. “It is, it gives me an excuse to say I didn't hear people.”

Lance nods slowly, unable to think of anything else to do or say. They all sat in silence for a few seconds, before Shiro cleared his throat.

“I think we should be heading back.” He said, standing up and picking his stuff up. “Finals are this week and I think it’s a good idea that we all get a good nights sleep, especially after… this.”

The others nodded and Lance watched Keith go, waving softly.

Maybe he had to rethink his entire relationship with Keith now.

___

Finals were a bitch, but hey, they just finished their last one. The gang had decided to head out for a couple drinks, celebrate another year of not dying due to school work. Lance bought the first round of drinks because it was his turn to start off the tab.

They talked a _lot_ that night, everyone had a few drinks. Except Shiro, apparently he was there to make sure none of them drank themselves to death, though it seemed his arms were mostly full with his boyfriend.

About an hour in, was it an hour? It felt like an hour. Lance didn’t exactly know how many drinks he had, but he knew he had a loooooot. Enough that his vision swam as he stumbled his way over to where Keith was sitting, sliding up next to him and leaning his head on his shoulder.

“Heeeeeeey” He slurred, reaching forward and snatching a few of Keith’s fries.

“Hey, Lance.” Keith hummed. Lance didn’t know if he was blushing because of his drinks or something else. “Have you eaten anything?”

Lance held up one of the fries he had stolen. Keith made a face and pulled the whole basket of food towards them.

“If you don't eat something, you’re gonna get a massive hangover. How much have you had to drink, anyway?”

Lance only giggled in response, nuzzling into Keith’s shoulder. He smelled nice, like smoking wood chips. He felt something press at his mouth and looked up, seeing Keith trying to feed him a fry. Lance ate it with a hum, leaning back against the other. He let Keith feed him for a few minutes before pushing his hand away so he could just lay there, letting his eyes close and breathing softly.

“Hey Keith?” He mumbled softly, not moving.

“Hm?”

“I like you.”

“I- uh... Well, I like you too.”

“Nooo… I _like_ you.”

“...Oh”

Lance giggled and yawned, struggling to sit up a bit.  “We should get out of here, I wanna sleep.”

“Okay” Keith sighed, getting up and scooting around Lance. “Stay here while I go get everyone else.”

Lance nodded, dropping his head back against the seat. He only stayed there for a few seconds, though. It was too loud, too hot in here. He would just wait for the others outside, where it was cool.

He picked himself up slowly, grabbing another fry before starting to walk to the exit. The bouncer barely gave him a second look as he stepped into the cold air, shivering slightly. Okay, maybe he should’ve worn more than shorts and a tank top. He moved out to the side so he wouldn't be in the way of other patrons walking out of the bar. He did notice a hot sleazy guy walking up to him. Lance shifted a bit and looked up at the guy. He should walk away but his friends-

“Hey, kitten,” the guy purred, boxing Lance in against the wall. “You headed somewhere?”

“I’m waiting for my friends.” Lance tried not to slur, basically shrinking against the wall.

“Why don’t you come ‘round the corner with me and have a little fun~” His knuckles brushed down the side of Lance’s face and he flinched away.

“I-i’d rather not,” He mumbled, only to feel the guy grab his wrist, starting to drag him towards the alleyway. He tried planting his feet and pulling back but the guy quickly overpowered him. He was pushed face-first into the concrete wall of the alley and yelped. That hurt.

There was futile attempt to push away from the wall, but the guy boxed him in again, pressing much to close for comfort.

“Please stop.” He whimpered, wincing at how the wall dug and scraped at his skin.

“You’ll enjoy it~” The guy cooed in his ear “I promise~”

Lance whimpered again and let a few tears fall down his face. He should have just stayed inside, listened to Keith. He didn’t want this.

The guy was suddenly not behind him, being pushed away with extreme force. He heard someone yelling, but couldn’t make out who. Big hands pulled him away from the wall and he flinched again, expecting more to happen. He was hugged tightly before he looked up, seeing the worried and distraught face of Hunk.  
Lance sagged against him, letting out a miserable sob. He curled up and clung to his best friend as much as he could, hiccuping and sobbing loudly. He heard yelling behind him again, and a series of loud thuds.

“Keith!” He heard Shiro yell, only then turning slightly to see what had happened.

Keith was kneeling over the guy, being held back by his elbows by Shiro. His knuckles were bloody, and somehow Lance suspected that it wasn’t his own. Shiro hauled him up and dragged him back over to the others, keeping a tight grip on Keith’s shoulders.

Lance looked around them at his assailant and froze. His face was a bloody pulp, and Lance was partially glad that happened to the fucker. He didn’t look away until Keith pulled Lance from Hunk’s arms a bit, hugging him tightly.

“Let’s… head back to your apartment.” Shiro said, and somehow Lance didn't think it was a bad idea.

___

Things were… tense. Okay, that was a lie, things were a fucking mess. With Lance being assaulted and Keith basically almost punching a guy to death. Keith had refused to let go of him the entire way back to the apartment, Lance really didn't mind, he was still shaking from the ordeal.

The apartment was quiet when they got back, Lance was actually glad about it for once. Keith finally let him go as he stumbled into the bathroom. He turned the shower on to full heat, he scrubbed his skin with soap until it was pink and raw, yet he still felt dirty.

There were pajamas waiting for him when he stepped out, Hunk probably got them for him.

“Thanks, Hunk,” he whispered to himself, drying off and putting them on. He would deal with the cuts and scrapes later.

When he walked out , the others in the apartment looked at him worriedly. Lance just gave them a strained smile and graciously took the aspirin and water from Hunk.

The next few minutes were a blur, as he barely remembered Keith grabbing his hand and Hunk offering for them to stay the night.

Then he found himself laying on his bed with Keith curled up around him, holding his head against his chest. Lance could hear his heart beating, it was soothing. Keith was playing with his hair when he let out a low groan, pressing his face into Keith’s chest. He wanted to ignore what happened, to forget it happened, but the scene just replayed in his mind over and over again.

“Lance?” Keith asked softly, looking down at him.

“I can’t stop thinking about what happened.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Can you… distract me?”

“How?”

I don’t know, let me ask questions?”

“...okay”

Neither of them spoke, Lance trying to find the words that choked him and Keith just waiting.

“How-... How did you lose your hearing?” Keith tensed but sighed, hugging Lance a bit closer.

“When I was fourteen I was in the foster system and I got placed with a seemingly nice family, but me being the kid with anger issues, I fought them a lot. The dad had a drinking problem I think, it would explain some stuff. Well one day, I don’t remember what I said exactly but I had yelled at my foster mom, he punched me and threw me into a wall, then a railing. I don’t remember what happened after that but I woke up with a major concussion and I couldn’t hear the doctors talking to me. I didn’t tell anyone I couldn’t hear and got bounced around the foster system again.”

Lance looked up at him, eyes wide with fear and hurt. Keith just shrugged, clearly not as upset about it as he was.

“...So how did you end up with Shiro..?”

“His family was a foster family, I got placed with them when I was 16. They liked me, I liked Shiro and they ended up adopting me. Then they realized I was deaf once I couldn’t keep coming up with excuses. My parents were… harsh at first, begging me to get hearing aids but it kind of scared me. Shiro talked me through it eventually, promising that he would take ASL classes with me for when the hearing aids got too much.”

Lance nodded, letting his head rest against Keith’s chest again.

“That makes sense, I guess.” Lanced sighed, letting his eyes close slightly, listening to Keith’s heartbeat. They sat silently for a few minutes, Lance almost falling asleep, but something came to mind. Something he needed to get off his chest when he wasn’t drunk.

A truthful confession.

“Hey Keith?” he whispered, shifting to look up at him once more.

“Yeah?”

“I think… I’m in love with you.”

“Oh…”

“I’m sorry" Lance looked away, an embarrassed flush rising to his face. Did he really expect Keith to feel the same way?

“Hey-" Keith's hand came to cup Lance's face, making him look at him. “Don't be… I think… I love you too."

Lance blushed further, staring at him.

“Do you…” Lance choked out, gripping Keith's shirt tightly. “do you think we could- you know- try out-"

Keith just laughed softly, brushing his thumbs over Lance's cheeks.

“Sure,” he said with a confidence Lance only wish he could have.

“Can I kiss you?”

“Yeah.”

Keith leaned down and kissed him softly. His mind went blank as he kissed back. It felt like electric tingling through him.

Lance kind of liked it, he could get used to this. He hoped Keith would kiss him more.

Maybe he could just stay like this forever, and somehow he didn't think Keith would mind.


	2. Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We find ourselves in the second half of Keith and Lance's story, going through the trials and tribulations of figuring out their dating rhythm and events that hurt both physically and mentally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure you read the updated tags before continuing reading just in case <3

So, they were dating. That was a thing. They had officially been dating for only a week. It’s not like Lance was freaking out about this entire thing. No, scratch that, he definitely was freaking about the whole thing. They decided to go on an actual date, an official one, an honest to god date with the whole threatening father figure to boot. Thanks Shiro. Currently, they were walking hand in hand down Main Street to the little coffee shop on the corner of Fourth and Birch Street. Lance had learned that it was one of Keith’s favorite places to sit and relax as it was relatively quiet and people didn't often stick around there for a long time unless they were studying or, like him, just looking for a quiet place to stay. The shop apparently also made the best sandwiches, which Keith jokingly said he would sell his soul for. Though Lance didn’t exactly  believe him, he still found it cute that Keith was excited about this place to begin with.

“You’re thinking about something.” Keith said, breaking Lance’s train of thought. 

“I mean, I am always thinking about  _ something. _ ” 

“Let me rephrase that, you’re thinking about something that’s making your face go all lovey dovey.”

“Okay okay, yes I am thinking of something of that nature.”

“Am I allowed to know what it is? I mean, you almost ran into a light post you’re so zoned out.”

“I did?”  
“Yes, but I saved you.”

“Oops.” Lance chuckled softly, squeezing Keith’s hand as they continued walking. 

“So are you going to tell me what you were thinking of, ooor...”

“I was thinking about you.”

“That’s pretty gay.”  
“Well, if you haven’t figured out by now, we _are_ pretty gay.”

“Oh shut up.” Keith laughed, pulling Lance into the coffee shop. It smelled like coffee which wasn't surprising, but it had a nice rustic aesthetic going on otherwise. They ordered food quickly, Lance getting a sandwich as Keith demanded. They sat over by the wall while waiting for it, Lance still looking around and just watching the people mill about. 

“This place is certainly interesting.” Lance said, looking back over at Keith, though, he was met with an odd look. Oh right. He cleared his throat. “This place is certainly interesting.” he said again, enunciating his words more clearly this time. 

“Yeah, I like this place a lot,” Keith sighed, leaning back in the seat. “It’s quiet and the people usually bring me the food since they know I can’t hear when they call my name. They’re pretty nice like that.”

Lance smiled at him, watching him relax as the soft light washed over him and their table. Lance thought for a few seconds, still watching the other intently. 

“Hey, Keith?” He said, reaching out and poking his arm slightly.

“Hm?”

“Let’s make a deal.” Keith looked up at him and raised an eyebrow, clearly distrustful of what would be proposed. “If you get new hearing aids, I'll start taking ASL classes.” Now of course, Lance wasn't going to necessarily tell Keith that he was going to take them anyway but at this point is was almost common knowledge amongst their friend group that Keith desperately needed new hearing aids. 

It seemed as though Keith’s eyebrows raised higher than seemingly possible. His arms crossed over his chest as he let out a small hum. 

“Why is it that you’ll only take classes if I get hearing aids?” Keith said flatly, watching Lance falter and think of his rebuke quickly.

“Because you need to get new hearing aids anyway and me taking classes would be your reward for it?”

“Why should my ‘reward’ be something you do, that any decent person would do without prompting?”

Lance bit his lip and groaned lowly, dropping his head to the table. “This isn't going the way I hoped.” he moaned. “I sound like an ass.”

“Yeah, you do.”

“I was planning on taking classes anyway but since you need to get new hearing aids, I figured it would be a good incentive…” He said quietly, glancing up at Keith who just sighed and shook his head. 

“You’re dumb, but I guess your heart is in the right place.” Keith smiled softly, reaching over and running his fingers through Lance’s hair. Lance smiled and leaned into his touch, letting them fall into a comfortable silence as someone brought over their food. A small noise escaped Lance’s mouth as Keith pulled his hand away but quickly silenced himself seeing that the food was there. 

“So…” Lance started after swallowing a chunk of the sandwich. “Will you get new hearing aids?” Keith looked at him and swallowed quickly, biting the inside of his cheek as he thought. 

“I guess,” He said after a few seconds, “We can research some later. But if I get new hearing aids,  _ you _ have to take ASL classes.” He reached over and poked Lance’s chest harshly, giving him a playful glare. 

“Well… I was planning on taking them anyway, but I think that it’s a deal.” Lance laughed, setting down his sandwich and holding out his pinky. 

“A pinky promise? What are we? Five?” Keith chuckled, but raised his pinky to the others, wrapping their fingers quickly. 

“But a deal’s a deal, and everybody knows that breaking a pinky promise means death.”

Keith just rolled his eyes and pulled his finger away, taking a sip of his drink. “So, what do you think of the food here?”

“Its okay, I guess.”

 

“I didn't realize that there were so many different types of hearing aids.” Lance gasped as he scrolled through the webpage filled with different styles and brands of hearing aids. Currently, the two were searching for a new set of hearing aids for Keith, they had found a website that had most of what they were looking for and gave many resources for their search.

“There’s like… about ten different types I’m pretty sure?” Keith said, looking over at Lance. “I’m just looking for the behind the ear kind, they’re usually the cheapest and most comfortable.”

Lance made a face at the second half of that comment but quickly dropped it, scrolling and refining their search to just those kind of hearing aids. He sighed and rested his head on Keith’s shoulder as they scrolled through the options. 

A tense breath left Keith’s mouth as they looked at the pricing of most of the products. Lance could feel him growing tense as the prices seemed to just get higher and higher. 

“Looks like they want to charge you an arm and a leg for some of these.” He tried to joke, giving Keith a slight nudge, wanting to lighten the mood even if just a bit. Keith just stayed silent beneath him, chewing on his lip. Lance frowned and sighed softly, continuing to scroll through the options. 

It took a few minutes but they soon found a cheaper pair of hearing aids. Keith opened a new tab for it and read through it, the expression on his face not giving way to what he was thinking. The first thing that Lance noticed about them was that they had very low reviews, the quick synopsis of them saying that they broke easily and didn't last more than six months. He quickly glanced to Keith. 

“Are you thinking of getting these ones?” He said cautiously. He couldn’t read the emotion on the others face, which looked serious as usual. Though soon Keith’s brows drew together, letting out an annoyed sigh. 

“It’s a hundred for the set, why does it have to be so much.” He groaned, dropping his head back against the couch. “They’re going to have to be the ones I get.”

Lance pursed his lip before clicking back to the product page, scrolling quickly through them, looking for  _ something _ .

“What are you doing?” Keith questioned, side-eyeing his boyfriend. 

“Give me a second.” was all that Lance said, eventually finding the product he liked and letting the page load. He looked up at Keith sheepishly while he looked over the product, though he winced as Keith's face drew into a glare. 

“Lance, I can’t afford this.” He said, trying to keep the exasperation out of his tone. “I don’t need one this fancy anyway, I don't care about colors even if the red looks nice.”

Lance pursed his lip and sat back, looking between Keith and the monitor. 

“If you get the more expensive one, it would last you longer and you’ll spend less in the long run.”

“If I can’t afford them now, what makes you think I’ll be able to afford them later!?”

“You don’t have to pay for all of it by yourself, I can help you with it!” 

“I don’t want your help!” Keith yelled, unaware that he had practically shoved himself in Lance’s face. He paused, going silent as he saw tears begin to well up in Lance’s eyes. He pulled back and bit his lip. They sat in an awkward silence for a few seconds, until Keith looked at the time on the computer screen and deflated. 

“I-...I’m sorry, I have to go to work…” Lance only nodded, pulling the laptop into his lap so the other could get out, though he smiled slightly as Keith leaned over and kissed his cheek before getting up. 

He quickly got ready for work and looked over at Lance, still on his couch as Keith began shutting the door. His heart yearned to go over there and stay with his boyfriend, but he knew he couldn’t.

“See you later Lance…” He said, quickly gesturing the sign as he said “I love you…”

 

For some reason it seemed like Lance was avoiding him. Keith hadn't really seen his boyfriend for the past two weeks aside from the quick hug and kiss in passing or in brief moments when Keith had gone over to his dorm. 

It hurt, but he certainly wasn't going to admit that. Keith sighed and slumped into the couch, slipping his hearing aids out of his ears to better lay his head against the arm rest. At least he had finished his homework for the weekend, now he could just sit around and brood about his problem. Maybe Lance was getting tired of him, like Keith was holding him back or maybe he wanted to break up because Keith yelled at him. Either would make sense, almost everyone else in his life had left him, saying that they couldn't stand his frustration, didn't want to deal with his needs, or even saying that they plain out didn't want him anymore. 

It changed when he was put and eventually adopted into the Shirogane residence. The older child in the household, Shiro, took Keith under his wing. He cared for Keith like he was truly his brother and was the one to eventually convince Keith to get hearing aids after it was revealed to the family that he was deaf. Keith opened up to him, trusted him completely. It almost destroyed Keith's world when Shiro enlisted in the military. He promised that he would be back soon. Keith wanted to believe him. For three years, Keith felt alone. At the end of the third year, Shiro returned. At first Keith thought Shiro returning would be great, but seeing that his adoptive brother, missing his right arm and a traumatic stress disorder keeping him from completing the most mundane tasks, made him think otherwise. Keith helped him of course, not out of repayment or obligation, but because he cared and loved Shiro like he was his actual brother. It got better when his brother received a high tech metal prosthetic, even if Keith still had to help him. 

It was most of his life that had forced him to learn not to expect people to stay. It was what had made him learn to keep his emotions at bay, keeping them bottled up until they eventually boiled over. He thought Lance cared, and thinking that he too, was tired of Keith, made it hurt more than the others. Why did this always have to happen-

Cold metal brushed against his arm, making him flinch and look up, seeing Shiro leaning over the couch with a worried expression on his face. 

“~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~~?” He watched Shiro’s lips move, hearing some sound come out of them, but it was just muffled noise, like stuffing had been pressed in his ears.

“Sign please” He said quietly, shifting to a sitting position to see Shiro’s hands move. 

_ Are you okay?  _ Shiro signed.  _ You are crying _ .

He was?

Keith rubbed at his cheeks, frowning the wetness there, but sighed and wiped them with his wrist.

_ I’m fine, just tired. _ He signed back, slumping down with another sigh. 

_ I was about to head out but I can stay home if you want. _

_ No, its fine. Don’t you have a hot date with Matt or something? _

Shiro blushed slightly and frowned at Keith, who just chuckled and punched his shoulder lightly. 

_ Oh shut up. Are you sure you’re okay?  _ Shiro signed, sighing the meanwhile. 

_ Yes, I’m fine Shiro.  _ Keith rolled his eyes.  _ Go have your hot date, I’ll just fend for myself.  _

Shiro pursed his lip and shook his head lightly, pulling Keith into a hug before stepping back and gesturing an ‘ _ I love you’ _ in his direction as he walked out the door. 

With this, he was left alone in the silence of the apartment. Not that he wasn't used to it at this point. It just felt emptier than usual. 

Keith sighed and sunk back into the couch, slipping the practically non functioning hearing aids into his ears. Might as well watch some netflix or play a video game, something like that. 

He had gotten about thirty minutes into the game when he felt his phone buzz against his knee. He ignored it at first, seeing as it was probably nothing, but as more buzzes vibrated into his leg, he reluctantly paused his game and opened his phone, seeing several texts from Lance. 

**Shark Boyf:** heeeeyyyyyy

**Shark Boyf:** sorry I haven't seen you lately

**Shark Boyf:** I'm heading over to your place rn

**Shark Boyf:** you want me to pick up some food?

**Shark Boyf:** I'm near the Chinese place and the Pizza place, make your choice. 

**Shark Boyf:** duuuuuuuuuuuuude

**Shark Boyf:** Please answer

**Just Me:** Chinese

**Just Me:** you know what I like

**Shark Boyf:** Oki doki <3

Keith sighed, dropping his head back against the couch as he picked up the controller once again. He would be calm about this situation, he wouldn't yell, or atleast try not to. Lance probably had a legitimate reason for not seeing him for almost two weeks, and he was bringing him food, so that was definitely a plus. He hadn't realized that almost twenty minutes had passed until there was a loud knock at the door followed by the subsequent opening and obnoxious voice that followed. 

“Honey! I’m home!” Lance called as he walked through the door, kicking it shut with his heel. He looked over at Keith and smiled brightly, walking over and kissing his forehead before pulling away and dropping the bag of chinese food into Keith’s lap.

“So, what’cha playing?” Lance asked as he took his shoes off and made himself comfortable on the couch next to his boyfriend. 

“I was playing Mario Kart but yeah…” Keith sighs, picking out the containers of food, handing one container to Lance and keeping the other for himself. He set the controller to the side again and opened the chopsticks, picking at the food slowly. 

“Mario Kart is fun, I have gold medals in almost every speed and level of the game.” 

Keith only hummed in acknowledgement, eating bits and pieces of the chinese food without looking at the other. He felt Lance’s eyes looking at him from where he sat next to him. He couldn't look, he didn't want to look. Guilt and his own issues clawing at his neck, like  _ he _ was the one who did something wrong. 

“Hey, did I… did I do something wrong?” Lance asked quietly, setting his container aside and facing Keith completely. “Are you mad at me for bragging about Mario Kart? Did I get your order wrong?”

Keith just shook his head, gripping the chopsticks tightly. Of course Lance was that oblivious, he was an idiot. You barely talk to your boyfriend for two weeks and just expect everything to be fine!?

“Keith-”

“Where were you the past two weeks.” Keith snapped, turning to Lance quickly. “I barely get any messages, I barely get to see you! Are you just avoiding me!?”

Lances jaw dropped, staring at Keith in realization. His body slowly slumped against the armrest, letting the facade of enthusiasm and energy, fall away. He sighed and waited a few seconds as Keith sat back, getting his breathing under control. 

“I’ve been working more hours, not that I want to of course but I have to find some way to pay for new materials.” Lance sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose slowly, “since my marine biology class decided that we suddenly had to provide our own stuff. I thought I told you but I guess it slipped my mind.” 

Keith stared at him, feeling the guilt from before constrict tighter around his throat. That was a legitimate reason, and now he just felt selfish for getting upset at him. He nodded slowly and picked at the hem of his shirt. 

“Sorry… for yelling at you.” Keith said quietly.

“Come ‘ere.” Lance sighed, sitting up and leaning over, pulling the other into a loose hug and letting his hand comb through his hair softly. “It’s okay, you thought I was avoiding you. I would’ve thought the same thing in your situation.”

“You would have?” 

“Yeah, I’ve been in the same situation, except the girl actually wanted to break up… but thats not whats happening here.” Lance pulls back slightly, kissing Keith’s forehead and cheeks before kissing his lips softly. “I love you okay?” he says quietly, pressing his forehead to the others. 

Keith nodded the best he could with trying to keep his forehead against Lance’s, he slowly pulls his hand to his chest in his ‘I love you’ before pressing it to the others chest. 

“I love you too…” He sighed

“Good, let’s go back to playing Mario Kart and eating food.”

 

The first day of ASL classes was certainly interesting to Lance. They had gone through all the basics of ASL, basic signs, greetings, the alphabet. The teacher said that they would be reviewing what they learned and going further at the beginning of next class. 

The whole experience Lance found pretty interesting in actuality, even if his hands fumbled through some of the motions. It was definitely worth the money. But now, Lance had to make it to class by some means, at least he had an hour to get there. 

The cool drizzle of rain made Lance decide that he couldn't walk. As much as he liked the rain, he didn't exactly want to be soaked by the time he got to class. He sighed and looked around, calling an uber wasn't exactly an option, he didn't have that kind of money. Looking around the corner, he saw a bus stop and several other students standing there. 

“Yes!” Lance hissed to himself, pulling up the hood on his jacket as he jogged over there, ignoring his bag hitting against his leg. Just in time too it seemed, as the bus was rolling up just as he had reached the bus stop. He got inside quickly and sighed as he relaxed into a seat. 

By the miracle that was the bus system, he made it to his aerospace class with five minutes to spare, he shook off the droplets of water that had clung to his hair and hoodie. Someone gave him a dirty look as the droplets flung onto their books.

“Sorry!” he said with an awkward laugh before rushing down to take the seat next to Keith, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before sitting down and shoving his books and stuff under the desk. 

“You’re wet.” Keith said, not glancing up from his note taking. 

“You’re the one that makes me.” Lance laughed, poking keith in the shoulder to make him look at him as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. Keith only scoffed and pushed him away, rolling his eyes slightly.

“You’re gross.” Keith groaned, turning back to his paper.

“I know I am.” Lance leaned back, sighing softly as he waved to Shiro.

The class began a few minutes later, Lance listened of course, writing down a few notes that he needed. Though it seemed Professor Iverson was droning on about one particular subject and the many ways people had done it completely wrong. It was times like these that Lance wished that he understood ASL, it would definitely make this class a lot easier. Most of these guys had it lucky that Shiro was giving them such a concise version of the notes-.

No, wait, yeah it was good they were getting better notes but... They need this to even learn stuff in this class, hell any class they're in. He shouldn't call them lucky to have it. Lance shook his head quickly and went back to his notes, writing down another piece of something Iverson had said. 

There was a poke at his shoulder, making him look over at the girl sitting on his other side, biting her lip softly. Lance noticed the hearing aids in her ears as she started to move her hands, but stopped at seeing Lance’s blank stare. He cursed softly and racked his brain for what he had learned in the class. 

_ I don’t know much ASL  _ he signed, sincerely hoping he got the motions right. The girl watched him and nodded. She pulled out a sticky note and quickly wrote on it before handing it to Lance. 

‘Can I see your notes? I missed part of what was said’ the note read. Oh! That's what she needed. Lance nodded quickly and handed over the notes he had taken during the class, pulling out another piece of paper so he could continue. 

The girl returned his notes at the end of class, signing thanks at him as he and Keith left.

“So how was your ASL class?” Keith inquired, looking up at the other.

“It was good!” Lance smiled, perking up slightly. “We only learned the basics today though, the alphabet, greetings, simple phrases, all that jazz.”

“That’s good,” He sighed, rubbing his thumb over Lance’s knuckles slowly.  “I can help you with it when you want me to.”

“We both know you’re good with your fingers,” Lance teased, wiggling his eyebrows at Keith, earning him a punch in the shoulder and an embarrassed noise. 

“Why do you do this to me?” The other groaned, knocking his head against Lance’s shoulder. 

“Because I love you and your-”  
“YOU DON’T NEED TO SAY THAT.”

 

A relationship was a complicated thing. It had many in’s and out’s to it, it required a lot of communication and trust, and lots of love -even if you want to strangle the other person sometimes. It was the day before Valentine's day and Keith knew that people usually gave their partners gifts and whatnot  _ on _ Valentines day. Of course he had a present for Lance, it was small because he didn't have much money left after paying a couple bills, but he knew that his boyfriend would enjoy it. He wasn't really secret about it either. It was all in a pretty gift bag, sitting next to Keith’s front door, mostly so he wouldn't forget it.

Lance on the other hand, was definitely being secretive, talking in hushed tones with their friends and Shiro, quickly changing the topic whenever Keith tried to bring up Valentines day stuff. He didn't even answer him when Keith asked if they had any plans for the day.

Needless to say, the whole thing was very nerve wracking and put Keith on edge. Even when the morning of the accursed day shone its warm orangish light through his window, the nervous feeling did not leave. 

“It's gonna be fine. Nothing bad is gonna happen, Lance isnt gonna forget that it's valentine's day,” he told himself as he pulled on nicer clothes. He knew for a fact that Lance didn't have work that day; it had been assured to him several times. By the time he was sitting at the breakfast bar eating a bowl of cereal, the nerves had mostly dissipated. His phone buzzed on the counter. He looked over.

**Shark Boyf:** Heyyyyyy

**Shark Boyf:** You should put nice clothes on ;)

**Shark Boyf:** I’ll be over at your place in an hour

**Just Me:** Already way ahead of you :p

**Shark Boyf:** Are you reading my mind?

**Just Me:** No. I just figured something would happen today, whether I dragged you out or you secretly had something planned

**Shark Boyf:** This is why i love you

**Just Me:** Dork

**Shark Boyf:** I try

Keith just rolled his eyes, smiling softly as he set his phone aside to finish eating his cereal. He knew he had nothing to worry about. Lance was just a hopeless romantic who tried to make everything special. Not that Keith minded of course, but a little heads up would’ve been nice. 

Lance showed up an hour later, swooping down to give Keith a sweet kiss before linking their arms and dragging him out the door, though Keith smacked him first so he could at least get his shoes on and grab the present bag. They were walking down the sidewalk when Keith finally realized that he actually had no idea where they were going. 

“So…” Keith started, looking up at Lance. “You have plans, I’m assuming?”

“Yup.”

“Am I allowed to know these plans?”

“Nope!”

“Lance,” Keith groaned, knocking his forehead against the other’s shoulder. “You’re killing me here.” 

“Sorry babe, I’ve been planning this for a week. Can’t ruin the surprise now.” Lance chuckled, combing his fingers through Keith’s dark locks. He squeezed the other’s hand reassuringly and hummed softly as they continued down the street. 

“Can I at least know where we're going?”

“For gelato.”

“It’s February.”

“So?”

“It’s freezing.”

“Are you telling me that you  _ don't _ eat ice cream in the winter slash spring just because its cold?”

“No-”

“Weakling.”

“Lance.”

“I’m joking, we’ll be walking so we’ll stay warm.”

“Somehow I don't believe you.”

Lance looked at with a pout on his face to which Keith only rolled his eyes. They walked for another few minutes, listening to the soft chatter of people around them and cars driving by. He realized that it was probably louder than he heard, but at the moment Keith didn’t care. It was relaxing, just walking with the person who he cared about. Lance pulled him forward towards a new establishment, or at least Keith thought it was knew as he hadn't seen it before. With reading the sign he realized that it was the gelato shop Lance was referring to earlier.

“This where we’re going?” Keith said, looking over at the other who kept pulling him forward. 

“What gave you that idea?” Lance laughed, glancing back at him before opening the door to let Keith in. 

Keith just shook his head with a smile and stepped inside, looking around the cool brown and blue shop. It was very soft and comforting compared to the sterile white and pink interior of most other gelato and candy shops. 

He looked up at the menu and hummed softly, looking through all the flavors and options for the ice cream. Eventually he decided on a medium sized shake of vanilla, chocolate, and coffee flavored ice cream. 

He looked over at Lance and nudged him slightly. 

“You know what you want?” He asked softly, getting a nod from him. “What are you getting?”

“Two scoops of salt water and caramel”

“That sounds gross”

“It's not half bad”

“That means its not half good either”

“Oh hush and let me enjoy my gelato” Lance whined, walking up to the counter and ordering quickly, ordering Keith’s shake as well.  

A few minutes later they both had their ice cream and were walking down the path in the park. There wasn’t many other people in the park which they were extremely thankful for but there was still a slight chill. Keith eventually made them sit down on one of the nearby benches underneath one of the cherry trees that was starting to bloom. 

They sat there for a few minutes, just enjoying the peace until a small gust of wind came past and made the pink flowers to start fluttering down onto them. Though they didn't move, just letting themselves get covered. As it stopped soon after, they brushed the flowers off and faced each other, apparently thinking the same thing. 

“So…” Lance started, pulling a hand sized box out of his jacket pocket. “I got you a gift” 

Keith looked at it, cocking his head slightly. It seemed it was a very sneaky box, with it being hidden in his jacket and all- how did he not notice it this entire time. Keith shook his head and held up a small gift bag as well. 

“I got you one too”

“Mine first”

“Okay then” Keith set his present down in front of Lance and took the box after quickly sipping more of his shake. The box was blank, there being no wrapping paper around it or even markings to indicate what it was. He gave his boyfriend a questioning look as he opened it, looking inside and removing the protective foam covering the precious items inside.

No way.

No fucking way.

Keith’s eyes widened as he stared down at a new set of hearing aids, specifically the  _ expensive _ pair of hearing aids. He pulled one of them out shakily and stared at it.

“Lance…” Keith said softly, his voice starting to tremble. He looked up and saw Lance smiling softly, though it seemed more like he was smirking. “These were so expensive how-…”

“It’s kind of the real reason why I started working more hours” Lance admitted, shrugging slightly. How could he be so nonchalant about this whole thing. Keith rubbed at his eyes quickly and took a deep breath, willing his hands to stop trembling before switching out his old hearing aids for the new ones. He had to stop a moment as the sensation of clearly hearing and his sensory input greatly raising, made him dizzy.

After getting used to sounds, Keith turned to Lance and pushed his gift bag closer

“Don't expect to be amazed” Keith frowned “I didn't have the money to get you a big gift”

“I would be happy with anything you bought me” Lance giggled and picked up the bag, looking inside it. His eyes opened wide as he slowly pulled out the plush gift, his eyes practically sparkling as he hugged the shark plush tight to his chest. 

“Keith…” He whispered, looking over at his boyfriend. “I love her”

“There’s another piece of paper in there that you should look at”

Lance raised as eyebrow and looked inside the bag once more, fishing out the small piece of paper and reading it while tucking the plush shark under his arm.

“Thank you for your patronage to the Awestruck Shark Conservatory…” he read outloud, looking up at Keith, who only motioned for him to continue reading. “The shark you have adopted is named Nila and she is a mako shark weighing in at four hundred twenty seven pounds and is nine feet three inches long... Keith you didn’t….”

Keith only shrugged and smiled softly as he watched the reaction on the others face. 

“You’re tracking code is 89923405NILA on our website- KeitH YOU ADOPTED A SHARK FOR ME?”

Keith nodded, chuckling softly at his boyfriend’s reaction, though he didn't expect to be tackled in a hug with an overjoyed Lance squealing in his ear. His eyes bugged at the loud sound but after turning down the volume on his hearing aids, he wrapped his arms around Lance and pressed his face into the others neck. 

“I’m guessing you like it?” Keith purred softly, pulling back just enough to look at Lance better.

“I love it!” Lance said, pulling back from the hug fully and hugging the paper and plush shark to his chest. “They’re so cute, I’m so happy.”

“I’m glad.” Keith smiled, starting to clean up the mess of gifts they had created on the park bench.

Keith held up his hand in _'I love you'_ and pressed it to his own chest before pressing it to Lance's.  
"I love you" he said softly, earning a smile from Lance who mimicked the others motion, though leaning forward and kissing him softly afterward.   
"I love you too"

 

Lance dropped his bag against the couch and flopped on the floor soon after, letting out a loud groan. He and Keith kept arguing, but it was never bad. They always made up soon after, the whole thing basically confused Lance and now he was just plain out over-thinking emotions. 

“Why are you laying on the floor?” Hunk sighed, walking over and looking down at the lump of a man.

“I’m having an existential crisis.” Hunk let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose with a small shake of his head. 

“Why?” He finally asked, nudging Lance with his foot until he was laying on his back instead of his face.

“Feelings.”

“Elaborate.”

Lance sat up and rubbed over his face quickly with a low groan, spinning around on his butt to face his best friend who now sat on the couch. 

“So you know I really like Keith, I love him.”

“Okay.”

“All the other relationships i’ve been in before haven't been like this, like at all.”

“I don't see the problem here.”

“I’m confused!” Lance groans, tossing his hands up in the air. “ I don’t know how to react. I get butterflies in my stomach whenever he smiles or does something cute. I freeze and can’t help but stare at him sometimes cause he’s hot! I like making him happy and when he confides in me, it makes the butterflies get worse until I basically have hearts instead of eyes.”

Hunk raised an eyebrow and offered a hand out to Lance to help him up and pull him onto the couch. Lance groaned again and leaned over Hunk’s shoulder, whining softly. He looked up at Hunk and pursed his lip slightly in a pout. 

“I don’t know what I’m doing.”

“What were your other relationships like?” Hunk asked nonchalantly, resting one of his hands on Lances back. 

“Usually they would ask me out and I would say yeah and go out with them for a while, and I enjoyed making them happy and going on dates but I never got butterflies in my stomach. Not to mention with some of the people I dated, they straight up broke up with me cause I told them I was trans...” Lance explained, trailing off at the end of the sentence. He shifted back and rolled onto his back so his head would rest on his best friend’s leg. 

“Jerks,” Hunk said quietly, starting to comb through Lance’s hair with his fingers.

“Yeah…”

“Have you told Keith?”

“I’m pretty sure he put two and two together. When I yelled at him a while ago about being better than me in every way, including in being a guy. He’s also seen me with just a binder and briefs on before.” Lance shrugged, looking at the scandalized look on Hunk’s face. “Don't look so scandalized. We didn't do anything, he just walked out of the bathroom as I was getting dressed after staying the night at his place.” Hunk just shook his head again and hummed quietly. 

“I think you're in a relationship you actually care about for once, not a pity one for the people who had a crush on you.”

Lance made a face at that comment but sighed, starting to realize that the statement was undoubtedly true. He never felt anything in his previous relationships like he feels now. 

“Relationships on TV aren't like this though, at least for supposedly loving relationships.” Lance groaned, pressing his palms into his eye sockets. “They’re all like grossly lovey dovey and wont stop sucking face or they’re a married couple that absolutely loathe each other which makes me question why they’re even married. Like… yeah, TV is my only basis for how loving relationships are supposed to work.”

“I don’t think using television for a basis of anything is a good idea.” Hunk snorted “It’s played up for laughs or gross romance. I don’t think you and Keith can compare your relationship to real world ones like, you’re trans, he’s deaf, you’re pansexual, and he’s gay- I think- but either way; your relationship is in no way going to be like biblical relationships.” 

Lance groaned loudly again, tossing his hands in the air and letting them fall back over Hunks legs. He kind of hated it when Hunk was right, at least to this extent. 

“What are you? The relationship guru?” Lance joked, looking up at Hunk. 

“No, I’m dating a religious girl.” 

“Since when!?”

“Since last year.”

“I have heard nothing of this”

“It’s cause you’re oblivious and don’t pay attention.”

“...That makes sense” Lance laughed, resting his hands on his stomach. “I guess I do need to reevaluate how I think about our relationship, and not try and hold it to really weird standards.”

“You better, you gay fuck.”

“I cannot deny the truth.”

 

Movie night was undoubtedly the best night in their relationship. When they just laid out on one of their couches, surrounded by blankets, and just watching movies until they fell asleep. Lance loved this night, he got to introduce Keith to so many different movies he hadn't seen. Keith hadn't even seen Titanic! And that was like, a movie that  _ everyone _ had seen. 

Lance crawled into their blanket nest, cradling a bowl of chips in his arms to not spill them as he got comfortable against Keith. Tonight they were watching Tales From Earthsea, mostly because Lance thought it was a underrated ghibli classic, and Keith hadn't seen it. 

“You comfortable yet?” Keith sighed, putting his arm over Lance’s shoulder. He purred at the contact and wiggled just a bit more and rested his head against Keith’s chest. 

“Yes,” Lance said, pulling the blankets over them and eating a few chips. 

“Can I start the movie now?”

“Yesss.”

Keith just rolled his eyes and shook his head, starting the movie with a quick push of the remote. Lance sunk into the couch a little more and sighed softly, eating chips and occasionally passing a few up to his boyfriend. He enjoyed this movie every time he watched it, the characters were interesting even if part of the beginning plot was a mess and left the viewer confused. 

About halfway through the movie, Lance began to doze off, his head nodding back and forth until he looked up at Keith to ask him a question, but seeing how utterly engrossed Keith was in the film made him stop. 

His eyes were focused on the screen, brow furrowed only slightly, and lips parted just a bit. It was cute how focused he was. Lance figured that Keith didn't realize what his face looked like, he  wouldn't tell him of course, telling him would only result in him trying to never make that face again, and Lance really didn't want that. 

He only smiled and rested his head back against his boyfriend’s chest with a small yawn. He was fine like this, relaxed and domestic with Keith. It made him realize he was truly happy with him, all the anxieties he had prior starting to melt away. 

He loved him, and that was all that mattered. 

 

“Keith… We can stay here if you want.” 

“It’s fine, just go to class already.”

“Okay…”

Keith was sick. He had woken up with a pounding headache, his nose clogged to hell, and his throat scratchy like a bitch. It was  _ definitely not _ a thing Keith liked to experience, at all. He felt absolutely disgusting, and now he was crotchety, which did not help in the slightest. 

It was sweet of Lance and Shiro when they offered to stay home with him instead of going to class, but Keith knew that not going to class would penalize the both of them; Lance with Professor Iverson being a complete asswipe about absence without good reason, and Shiro couldn't exactly leave the deaf students to fend for themselves. He waved them off and watched them leave reluctantly. 

The apartment was quiet. Keith enjoyed it when it was like this, though now he couldn't fully do so with how gross he felt. 

It wasn't until a little while later when his stomach gurgled and Keith figured it might be good to get up and try to eat at least a little bit of something. He figured dry cereal would be the best option as to not upset his stomach but still give him sustenance. 

Though half a bowl later and Keith now dry heaving into the toilet and he realized that it was actually that bad. He rinsed out his mouth and let out a low groan. Maybe a shower would be a good idea. 

It did help, at least a little bit. Keith felt a little less disgusting on the outside and the stuff in his sinuses had broken up a little bit. He slipped on pajama clothes because there was absolutely no way he was going to put on any decent clothes when he felt like shit. 

He laid back down with a small groan and breathed deeply. Going back to sleep was probably the best course of action, sleep off the grossness and waste time until his brother and boyfriend got back. 

He slipped out his hearing aids and stuffed them into his pocket. Better place to keep them if he had to suddenly get up and rush out of the building. 

He crawled under the covers and sighed softly, turning on the fan next to his bed and pulling one of his pillows over his head.

Sleep washed over him slowly, pulling him into a deep exhausted sleep.

 

Lance was twirling his pencil in his fingers during one of Iverson’s grueling lectures when his phone went off, not the usual ringtone but the emergency alert sound. He got a glared from the professor and ignored it when other phones in the room started to go off. 

Even that made Iverson stop and furrow his brow. 

Lance pulled out his phone and checked what the alert was, not thinking it would be anything really important, but what he read on the screen made his blood freeze.

**‘Building fire at Altea Apartments’**

He looked up quickly, meeting eyes with Shiro as they both left their stuff in the room and bolted out, needing to go find Keith and see if he was okay. 

“You call him Lance!” Shiro yelled, getting into his car quickly and Lance following into the passenger seat. He nodded, his hands shaking and fumbling as he quickly pressed Keith’s number, letting the phone ring.

He didn't answer. 

Lance rang again, pleading to whatever deity was out there for Keith to pick up. 

He still didn't. 

“Shiro, he’s not picking up!” Lance said in a panic, trying to keep the shaking of his hands under control as he pulled up live reports of the building fire. 

It was so bad…

The whole building was in flames…

He shoved his phone into his pocket and tried not to think of the worst as they pulled up as far as they could to the apartments. There were fire trucks and ambulances everywhere, EMT’s dealing with the injured and the firemen still bringing people out of the building. 

Lance bolted out of the car, racing through the crowd to find some sort of sign that Keith was there. A lump formed in his throat when he turned to the building and watched the fire get worse. 

He felt someone's hand on his shoulder and jolted, turning to see that it was Shiro. 

“I couldn’t find him in the crowd,” He said shakily “EMT’s haven’t seen him either.”

“Let’s ask the firemen?” Lance offered, trying not to work himself into a panic as it looked Shiro was starting to. 

Shiro only nodded and followed as Lance rushed up to a small group of the firemen, talking about the building being clear. They looked over at Lance ran up, giving him a strange look. 

“Did you guys check apartment D-15?” Lance asked hurriedly, squeezing Shiro’s hand tightly. The firemen looked to each other and nodded. 

“We opened the door and called in if anyone was there. Since we got no reply we figured that there wasn't anyone in there.” One of them answered. 

Lance felt his heart stop. 

Keith was still in there. 

“Oh my god…” Lance whispered, his voice failing him. 

“Kid, there’s no one in there. Calm down.” Lance turned to the man and glared, fists curling tightly.

“Yes, there is someone in there still!” He practically yelled. “A goddamn sick guy who cant even hear you because hE’S FUCKING DEAF.”

The fireman was taken aback, opening and closing his mouth like a fish until he regained his composure. 

“It’s too dangerous to go in there now kid, whoever's in there will probably succumb to the smoke soon-”

“Give me your fucking jacket.” Lance hissed, grabbing the fireman by the collar. 

“Woahwoah, i can't let you do that-”

“I said! Give me! Your fucking! Jacket!” 

The fire man raised his hands and backed up, tossing his gloves aside and slipping off his jacket, handing it over to Lance. His hands were still shaking as he put the jacket on, trying to remain calm. Lance turned to Shiro who looked terrified and not entirely there. 

“Shiro…” Lance said sternly but softly. “Go to the car, okay? I’ll go get Keith and get him out.” Shiro could only nod and backed away slowly, still looking at the fire. 

Lance took a deep breath and stared at the entrance of the building. 

It was now or never. 

He entered the building. 

 

It was hell.

Walls on fire and light fixtures melting and falling to the ground. Parts of the carpet aflame as well, slowly spreading around the rest of the floor. The heat was unbearable, hitting him in the face with how hot it was compared to the outside. 

Lance shook his head, raising an arm to shield his face as he made his way over to the stairs, taking them two at a time as he sprinted upwards. All he had to do was get to the fourth floor without dying. If he was dead, he couldn't save Keith. Whether or not he got seriously burned or inhaled too much smoke wasn’t important right now. Lance coughed but it barely reached his ears as the fire only roared in his ears

As he reached the fourth floor he almost missed the marker that had all but burned away had all but burned away. The hall was worse than the stairs and lobby had been, parts of the ceiling collapsed onto the floor. Lance cursed quietly and ran into it anyway, avoiding the flames that licked at his pants and the fireman's jacket. It felt like the hair on his body was being singed off, it probably was. He so did not want to look at himself in the mirror after this. 

By the time Lance had gotten to the apartment door, he was coughing every few seconds, it felt like his throat was on fire. Pun not intended.  Lance yelled in pain as he grabbed the metal doorknob, only to be burned. He cradled his hand to his chest and kicked the door in.

Keith, he needed to get to Keith. 

Lance rushed into the room, stumbling sideways as he narrowly avoided another chunk of ceiling that fell. His heart was pounding in his ears, this was terrifying. For once he was thankful that their living room was basically barren, nothing there to trip over or bump into. He rushed through it and panted harshly, wincing at the heat and smoke he inhaled. 

Keith’s door was right in front of him, he would be in there, and Lance would be able to get him and get out of the building. 

Lance made the mistake of grabbing the doorknob with his hand again and winced, his hand burned more. 

Oh god, it fucking hurt. 

He suppressed a sound of pain and pushed the door open, slamming it open the second the latch bolt was clear of the strike. 

“Keith!” he yelled, looking around the room quickly before spotting him on the bed. His heart rate picked up as he saw no response from the other. He couldn’t help but panic even though he knew he shouldn’t. 

Lance ran over and shakily pulled the blanket back from Keith’s head, letting out a distressed noise as he saw no response. His hand shook more as he reached for Keith’s neck, searching for a pulse. He sighed out as he he found one, weak, but still there. He had to stop himself from crying as images of Keith waking up okay and peacefully flashed in his mind. 

The smoke was getting heavier, his eyes stung, it was getting hard to see. Lance coughed and threw the blanket off of his boyfriend, taking the fireman’s jacket off of himself and putting Keith into it. 

He was so limp, like a ragdoll. Lance only stopped as a bad coughing fit over took him, making his movements come to a stop. He gasped and shook his head, he had to keep going. He pulled Keith into a sitting position and picked him up, wheezing at how much of a dead weight he was. 

All he had to do now was get out of here. 

He felt the hair on his arms burn away further as he made his way back through the apartment. He couldn’t dodge the collapsing ceiling the second time and winced as burning drywall dropped onto his arm. It felt like his skin was burning off. It probably was, it just hurt like a motherfucker. 

Lance made his way into the hallway and soon into the stairwell, trying to not to fall forward. He couldn’t let Keith get hurt. He had to get out of here. 

He had made it down the first three flights with relative ease, only pausing when he stumbled into the wall, coughing and wheezing. He didn’t know how much longer he could keep this up. 

Just one more flight of stairs. 

He started moving downwards, focusing on each each step as to not slip and fall down them. He didn’t expect them to suddenly fall out beneath him. 

All the air rushed out of his lungs as he lost his balance and tumbled sideways. He held Keith tightly against his chest, determined to keep him from getting further injured. Acting on instinct, Lance shoved his foot into the railing and winced as his knee protested the sudden harsh action. He had stopped, clinging to Keith so tightly he was sure the other was going to bruise.

He was pulling his foot out from the railing when he heard cracking over the roar of the fire. There was only a split second to react when part of the ceiling came crumbling down. Lance rolled to the side over top of Keith’s prone form, protecting him from the flaming rubble. He barely felt his leg turning too far and a popping sound coming from it. The ceiling came crashing down on top him, the rubble burning into his skin and making Lance bite back a scream. 

He brushed off the rubble quickly, smacking at the parts of his clothing that had started to catch fire. Wrenching his leg out from the railing gap, he almost threw up, just seeing his shin bending in a way it really shouldn't be. Lance just shook his head and coughed, pulling Keith back into his arms and making his way down the rest of the stairs slowly. Each step sent pain shooting up his leg.

The steps were the hard part, once he got to the lobby, it just a straight shot to the door. Lance walked slowly to the door, gripping Keith tightly against his chest. The door was only ten feet away.

Six feet...

Four feet…

Two feet…

Lance used his shoulder to push open the glass door, struggling as he walked out of it and let it slam shut behind him. 

He struggled to breathe in the non-burning air, struggled to continue walking forward. 

He could barely hear the sound of cheering over his own breathing and heartbeat.

The world went dark as he saw EMTs rushing towards him. He didn't even feel the impact with the ground.

 

It had been two days since the fire. Where Keith had been brought out of the burning building alive and where they had both been transported to the hospital. 

Lance had required several bouts of CPR before they had to intubate him during transport to the hospital. There were third degree burns all along his upper body, and he also completely tore his ACL. The doctors had placed him in a medically induced coma to monitor his healing process for at least the next few days.

Keith was fine aside from minor burns and smoke inhalation. The combination of those had only worsened his cold, the doctors had supplied him with many antibiotics to help with it, but it would still take time for him to get better. 

It had happened that Keith woke up first, coughing his lungs out as Shiro rushed over and had eased him down. He was confused as to what had happened and why he was suddenly in the hospital and why he had burns all over his arms. The second thing that he had asked was where Lance was and why he wasn't there with him. Shiro quickly filled in on what had happened and where the other was, biting back the guilt in his voice. Keith had to almost be physically restrained upon hearing of Lance’s condition, wanting and needing to be with his boyfriend. It wasn’t until Shiro pulled him into a loose hug, did he calm down enough to think rationally. Leaving and not letting his injuries heal certainly wouldn't help Lance get better. It didn’t stop him from feeling like shit when all he could do was lay around in a bed being unable to talk and do much of anything.

Keith protested staying alone in his hospital room for longer than necessary and was discharged after two days. Though he immediately checked in as a visitor, rushing back to Lance’s room to find him lying peacefully in the bed. He attempted not to grimace at all the wires and tubes connected to his boyfriend, walking over to him and resting his hand overtop Lance’s. 

He only shook his head and sighed. This was his fault, wasn’t it.

The next day, Keith sat in one of the chairs in the corner of the room and watched Lance’s prone form, still laying still and peaceful in the bed. The doctors had taken out the IV with the chemical that kept him in a medically induced coma and were waiting for him to wake up naturally, they had also left a mask on his face after taking out the tubes leading directly to his lungs, administering oxygen and a drug to aid his healing process. 

Keith just kept watching, pangs of guilt and sorrow hit his heart every hour later that Lance didn’t wake up. 

“It’s not your fault you know.” Shiro suddenly said, making Keith look up at his brother who had just entered. Keith only rolled his eyes and dropped his head back against the wall. 

“Yeah right.” He said sarcastically before breaking off into a coughing fit. He winced at how raw and sore his throat still was, and graciously took the water bottle that was offered to him. 

“Any changes?” Shiro asked, looking over at the boy. Though Keith only shook his head and set the water bottle aside after he took a drink. 

_ He hasn’t changed in the past few hours _ Keith signed. He thought it was a good idea to just switch to sign, give his throat a break from all its torture.  _ Did you bring any food? _

“I didn’t, Hunk’s planning on bringing some food after his class ends.” Shiro sighed, taking the seat next to Keith. “It still isn't your fault.” Keith just scoffed and rolled his eyes again. 

_ It is though _ Keith signed, starting to gnaw on his lip.  _ I was the one who was still in the apartment.  _

“Because you were sick,” Shiro argued.

_ And I fell asleep instead of paying attention to my surroundings. _

“You couldn’t of known that there would be a fire.”

_ He came in to save me! _

“Of his own volition!” 

Keith dropped his hands into his lap, staring at them. He didn’t know what to really say. He still felt like it was his fault. He was just going to have to stew in his own emotions until Lance woke up or he finally came to terms with it. 

Shiro watched his brother and sighed, shaking his head slightly because leaning back, sorting through his bag. 

“In other news…” Shiro started, pulling out a few pieces of note paper. “Iverson has exempted you both from the past couple classes and wants you to get better completely before coming back to class.”

Keith turned towards the other and raised a brow, a skeptical look on his face. 

“I’m not joking,” Shiro laughed. “Though Iverson didn't put it as nicely as I did.” 

_ Iverson can go suck a d- _

They were interrupted by a low groan coming from the bed. Keith’s head whipped around, seeing Lance shift slightly on the bed. He shot up and rushed over, hands gripping the railing tightly. 

“Lance…?” Keith said softly, reaching over and touching an non-bandaged part of the others arm. His eyes met ones of dark unfocused blue, looking back at him through half lidded eyes.

“K-keith…” Lance rasped, voice harsh from disuse and the things previously done to his throat. “You’r-e…” He broke off, wheezing slightly in the attempt to talk. Keith just shook his head and rested his hand on the others shoulder, rubbing softly. 

Small hushes came from Keith’s mouth as he held himself back from pulling the other into a hug. Even if the burns were on track for healing, they would still be sensitive. 

“Don’t try to talk.” Shiro said, moving to Lance’s other side, “Your throat was absolutely wrecked when you got out.” Lance nodded lightly before turning to Keith and slowly raising one hand. There was a move to stop him before Keith saw what he was doing.

_ U O K  _ ? Lance fingerspelled, letting his eyes blink slightly and trying to focus on the other. Keith’s eyes watered, nodding slowly with a smile. 

“I’m okay.” He said softly, fumbling for Lance’s hand and squeezing it lightly. “I’m okay…”

Lance smiled from under the mask and closed his eyes, breathing slowly for a few seconds. While keeping his eyes closed he lifted his hands again, his signing slow and stuttery.

_ What happen?  _

Shiro cleared his throat and crossed his arms, thinking it better for him to explain rather than for Keith to.

“You completely tore your ACL, which hasn't been fixed yet since they were waiting for you to wake up, you had a mild case of carbon monoxide poisoning and burned the inside of your throat slightly as well.” Shiro said slowly, trying to choose his next words carefully. “You… have third degree burns along both of your arms and torso… and a larger burn ranging from your right cheek to a bit of your neck… It’s covered in bandages currently but you’ve been under for about four days at this point since they thought it would’ve been easier on the healing process.” Lance nodded again, most likely not taking in the full repercussions of what Shiro had said. 

Keith wiped his eyes and pushed the bed railing down before climbing onto the bed and curling up against Lance’s chest under his arm. He tried not to put his full weight against the other and smiled as Lance slowly wrapped his arm around Keith’s shoulder.

Lance bit his lip slightly and shifted so he was more comfortable with Keith against him. He looked to Shiro and tentatively raised a hand. 

_ H U N K?  _ He finger spelled once more.

“He and Pidge are still in class right now but they’re coming over with food afterwards.”

Lance nodded and rested his head back, resting his hand now around Keith back in his lap, staring up at the ceiling. 

It was quiet, aside from the rhythmic beeping of the monitor. He knew that is was sometime in the afternoon based on the softer light coming from the window and the fact that his best friend was still in class. His thoughts felt sluggish and jumbled, probably from whatever painkiller they kept him on. 

Lance didn't even jump as the door suddenly opened, just turning to look at it as an older woman who assumed was the doctor walked in. 

“Ah! Miss. McClain! You’re awake now.” Keith raised a brow at the doctor’s comment, looking up at Lance who really didn't have much of a reaction. “It’s good to see you’re awake.”

Lance just let out a low grumble and pulled his head up, looking in the doctors direction. 

_ M I S S?  _ Keith fingerspelled, still confused at her comment. 

_ Later _ Lance signed back, sighing softly. 

“With how torn your ACL is, surgery is required for it to heal properly. You can schedule it now if you’d prefer or later when more of the medication has worn off Mireille.” The doctor explained, looking over her clipboard and humming softly. 

“...I-.. can schedule… now.” Lance rasped, coughing right after. Shiro moved forward and rubbed his back when he doubled over. The doctor frowned at his coughing and quickly wrote down something on her clipboard before walking out of the room to retrieve the paperwork. 

A few seconds after she left and Lance was properly laying back in the bed, Keith slowly sat up, looking down at his boyfriend. 

“Why did she use Miss.?” Keith asked, wincing at how hoarse his voice still was. 

_ You don’t know…?  _ Lance signed, furrowing his brow. 

_ Know what. _ Keith signed quickly.

_ I’m trans. _

Keith felt a little betrayed upon only learning this revelation now rather than earlier in their relationship. Looking back on it, it seemed almost obvious that he was trans but Keith guessed he just didn't put the two and two together. 

“Why didn’t you tell me…?” Keith asked softly, hands failing at properly moving. 

_ I thought you knew  _ Lance pulled back slightly, dropping his hands into his lap. He couldn’t look at the other now, rubbing at his thumbs anxiously. 

Keith swung his legs over the side of the bed before standing up slowly, not saying anything as he turned away from Lance. There was definitely a mess of emotions going on in his head, and processing them was difficult as well.

“I’m… gonna go take a walk…” Keith mumbled, walking through the door before he could hear any protest from his brother or his lover. 

He pulled the hearing aids out of his ears and shoved them into his pocket as he started down the hallway. The hospital was kind of empty despite the hour though Keith didn't exactly mind that.  He walked slowly, not really knowing where he was going. He passed the nurses station and frowned. 

Why had Lance not told him that he was trans? That should’ve been one of the first things he told him when they entered the relationship. Did Lance not trust him? Was he that scared of what Keith thought about him? He thought Lanced loved him. 

Keith sat down on a bench below a large window at the end of the hallway. His heart felt heavy in his chest. Hurt and betrayal mixing and trying to comprehend Lance’s side of things. 

The hearing aids felt like heavy weights in his pocket. A reminder of things that had happened to him. Keith fished the pair out of his pocket and stared at them in his lap, feeling tears start to bubble up in his eyes. 

They were so burnt and blackened, but they still worked. A gift that let him still hear the world for what it was. A gift from Lance.

It was Lance who had spent extra hours working to save up for them.

It was Lance who wanted to stay with him when he was sick. 

It was Lance who ran into a burning building for him. 

It was Lance who saved his life, who told him he was worth it. And this is how Keith treated him!? Tears spilled down his cheeks as he pressed a hand over his eyes. Why did he have to be such a dick. Why did he have to act out everytime he felt hurt. 

Lance loved him and he knew that! He loved him back!

Keith wiped his eyes and hiccuped softly. He couldn’t be a stupid coward anymore. He stood up and slipped the hearing aids back into his ears. Taking a few breaths and counting to ten before he started back down the hallway.

When Keith passed the nurses station he couldn’t help but listen in, slowing his pace just enough to hear bits and pieces of the conversation.

“I need you to put down an ACL reconstruction surgery for Mireille McClain on thursday.” He heard the doctor say. It made his blood boil, remembering how uncomfortable Lance looked whenever he had been called by that name. His hands balled into fists, trying to contain the anger starting to bubble up. 

“Mireille McClain is in room four, right?” 

“Yes.” 

“His name isn’t Mireille.” Keith growled, glaring over at the nurses station. 

“Excuse me?”

“His name isn’t Mireille! His name is Lance! Lance McClain! Get it right, dammit!”

The nurses and the doctor stared at him, confusion apparent on their faces. One nurse raised an eyebrow and started to move back, seemingly to press the panic button in the station. A look of realization came on the doctors face before quickly hardening. 

“Sir, you need to leave.” The doctor said, her monotone voice only aggravating Keith's nerves more.

“You can go shove it up your ass.”  He hissed, quickly wiping the tears that had formed in his eyes. 

The doctor opened her mouth to quickly retort but Keith had already stormed off, quickly stepping back into Lance’s room. A pang of guilt ran through his chest as he heard Lance sobbing softly and saw Shiro attempting to console him. But Keith was on a mission and walked straight over, watching Lance sit up slightly and look over at him. Keith grabbed his face and kissed him harshly. Lance flinched under his touch but quickly relaxed, hesitantly kissing back. 

After a few seconds Keith pulled away, looking into the endless blue of his lovers eyes and rubbed his thumb over Lance’s tear stained cheeks. 

“I’m sorry…” Keith said softly, pressing his forehead against the others. “Nothing will ever make me stop loving you…” 

Lance pulled back slightly as looked at him, eyes starting to water again. He leaned into Keith’s hands. He stayed quiet for a few seconds to gather his thoughts and will his voice to work.

“So you’re not breaking up with me?” Lance asked softly as he reached up and wrapped his hands around Keith’s wrists. He had hurt enough, mentally and physically, going through more wasn’t something he wanted to do. 

“No… I couldn't. I couldn't break up with you even if death grabbed my by the wrist and said the only way to live was to leave you.”

“Who opened a bag of cheese in here?” Lance joked softly, letting out a small squeak as Keith suddenly attacked his face with small kisses. 

A polite cough from the doorway made them both jump and pull away like scandalized teenagers. The doctor stood in front of the door, waiting patiently for the two to finish but now clearly tired of waiting. Lance blushed slightly and looked at her, gnawing on his lip. 

“Mr. McClain, it seems I owe you an apology” she started. “It seems as though a note was missed in your file about your preferred name and pronouns?” Lance gave her a confused look but stayed silent as she continued and Keith stood shame-faced in the corner. 

“The nurses have been made aware of your situation and will use the correct name from now on. Apologies again.” She left soon after, leaving Lance in a confused stupor as Keith walked back over and sat on the bed next to him. 

“...How did they realize there was a mistake?” Lance asked to no one in particular, just staring at the door. Keith’s face flushed in further embarrassment at the comment. 

“I… might’ve screamed at them in the hallway for using the other name…” He coughed, glancing away. The other looked at him before dissolving into wheezing laughs. Keith looked over severally confused. 

“You’re so dumb, I love you.” Lance laughed, leaning against the other with a sigh. He pressed his hand against Keith’s chest with the  _ ‘I love you’  _ sign, smiling softly.  

“I love you too.” Keith smiled, returning the gesture. Things would be okay for at least a little bit longer.

 

“So turns out, the rest of the apartment building that hadn't been burned to rubble, has been condemned.” Shiro sighed, flopping down against one of the chairs. “We are officially homeless.” 

He had just returned back from checking out what remained of their apartment. Turns out most of the residents had been lucky in getting out and the only casualty had been an older dog. Even though they were lucky in surviving, the building being deemed unlivable left many people out of a home. Lance was about to be discharged, so they couldn’t exactly keep staying in the hospital like they had.

“So what are you going to do?” Lance asked between bites of his sandwich. 

“Well, Matt has offered to let Keith and I stay with him until we can get our feet back on the ground so I would probably go searching for a new apartment after that. Good thing we’re getting money from insurance and the negligence lawsuit.” Shiro sighed, running his fingers through his hair while he looked through their current finances in his phone.

Lance bit his lip and cautiously looked over at Keith who was watching his brother, face pulled up in a thoughtful scowl. It was now or never to ask him the question he wanted to.

“Uh.. Keith?” 

“Hm?”

“Why don’t… why don’t we… get an apartment together...” Lance said quietly, rolling and squeezing the blanket covering his legs in an attempt to calm his nerves. Keith’s eyes went wide and stared at Lance.

“I don’t… know. What about Pidge and Hunk? What would they do if you moved out.”

“Well..” Lance laughed awkwardly. “Hunk is planning to move in with his girlfriend, and Pidge is gonna move in with their parents after the school year ends since its closer to their internship than our dorm is.” He looked down and twiddled his thumbs, unsure of how Keith would even respond. Living alone wasn’t a major problem in his book but the fact he would have to pay the full brunt of the rent was something Lance didn’t think he could physically do on his own. 

“Would we even have the money to rent an apartment?” Keith sighed, scratching his chin in thought. Lance was hopeful that Keith was starting to lighten up to the idea of them moving in together. 

“I have enough for at least two months worth of rent in my savings.” He answered, sitting forward a bit. “If you two don’t mind, we could use part of the insurance money to help with the down payment and a couple of the rent payments until we’re stable.”

They both looked over at Shiro, who only shrugged and kept scrolling through his phone. 

“Matt and I are already stable enough so you can use a good portion of the insurance money.” He sighed, looking up slightly. 

Lance beamed, looking back to his boyfriend while he waited for his answer. Keith pursed his lip slightly at the thought of using most of the money but sighed and looked back to Lance with a soft smile on his face. 

“Alright then, we’ll look for apartments.”

 

They moved into the apartment two weeks later. The apartment they had found was a decent sized one, large enough for the both of them comfortably. It wasn’t too far from either of their jobs, and allowed pets which was  _ definitely  _ a plus even though neither of them owned an animal. 

The best thing about the apartment, Lance had decided, was the view from their bedroom window. A view of the rest of the town, and the ocean following it. The small waves beating against the shoreline. 

Lance had been delegated to putting dishes away in the kitchen while the others brought up the boxes from below, seeing as he was still on crutches and a brace around his knee. He definitely didn't protest that. 

The entire move didn’t take long, seeing as Keith didn't have that many belongings after the fire, and Lance didn’t have many to begin with. Though they did splurge a little bit with decorations and things for their new apartment. The others said their goodbyes and left Keith and Lance alone in their new apartment, enjoying the silence for once. 

The evening sun had begun to dip down below the horizon when Lance found himself staring in their bedroom mirror, interrupted by his appearance while he undressed for the night. 

His eyes grazed over the still pink burns along his arms and the light gashes from falling down the stairs. The burns would most definitely scar over, leaving part of his dark skin lighter and splotchy. Lance couldn’t look up at his face, how he had managed to not look at it since the bandages came off was astounding, but it made sense since he made a conscious effort not to look.

Lance slowly looked up, finally looking at his face for the first time in a while. The right side of his face red and covered in lumps and ridges from where his skin had tried to melt off. His cheekbone up haven't received much damage, but it was still enough to leave the skin there lighter than it had been.

Tears pooled in his eyes before dribbling down his cheeks, holding back a sob. This is what he looked like now, disfigured and disgusting. His once pretty face now gone. He hated it. Why did it have to scar so much?

“Lance?” Keith called, walking up behind him and wrapping his arms around his waist. “You okay?”

“Why are you even with me if I look like this…” Lance said, finally letting a small sob tumble out of his mouth. He turned in Keith’s arms and pressed his face into the other’s shoulder, hiccuping softly. Arms came around him tighter and rubbed his back, making sobs tumble out of him faster. 

“I don’t remember getting with you because of your looks.” Keith said, looking down at Lance with a soft look on his face.

“I’m disgusting and disfigured a-and there are burn scars all over m-my face.” Lance sobbed, gripping Keith’s shirt tightly. “Nobody would want to get with me.”

“Gee thanks,” Keith rolled his eyes, pulling back enough to make Lance look up at him. “Guess I’m nobody now, so I think you still look amazing and handsome… and mine~” 

Lance hiccuped again, leaning into the hand that had come up to cup his unscarred cheek. He was still disgusted by his own appearance and didn't know how Keith could even bear to look at him, but he had to live with it. 

Keith’s hand pulled away and pressed against Lance’s chest, pinky, index, and thumb sticking out while the other two folded in. Their eyes met and Keith only smiled down at the other, leaning forward and kissing his forehead. 

“I love you too,” Lance whispered, pulling back and kissing his boyfriend softly. Maybe he could deal with it with Keith by his side. 

 

The scars had faded, leveled out so his skin wasn’t raised though it was still discolored, a few shades lighter than it had been. It took lots of assurances and a few sessions of therapy, but Lance had gotten through it. His knee was better too, perfectly fine aside from aching during bad weather.  

A year later, Lance sat in front of the windowsill in their apartment. They had pushed a cheap couch against it to make it easier to sit against since the four inch sill didn't leave much sitting room. Currently, Keith lay asleep against Lance’s chest while he stared out the window. 

Thoughts and memories ran through his mind. remembering the things that had happened over the past year. Wondering what his friends were doing with their lives. Thinking about the future ahead. 

Keith shifting against him pulled him from his thoughts. He looked down to see Keith starting to wake up and yawn cutely. Lance smiled. The other blinked a couple times before looking back at Lance, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. 

“Mornin’ sunshine,” Lance said softly, pushing a section of Keith’s hair back over his ear. 

“Is it morning?” Keith yawned again, resting his chin against the others chest.

“Yeah.”

“So we slept here all night?”

“Yep.”

“We need to stop doing that.”

Lance only shrugged “I don't see why we can't.”

“It gets uncomfortable.” Keith yawns again, shifting up so he was actually sitting up and leaned against Lance’s side. “You didn't stay up all night, right?”

“No, I’ve been up for an hour thinking about things.”

“What kind of things?”

“Me, you, us, things.” Lance shrugged again, wrapping an arm around Keith’s shoulder.

“Specifically?”

“When we first met, how much I hated you, and how far we’ve come.”

Keith chuckled softly and shook his head, slipping his arm between the couch and Lance’s back. It was quiet. Peaceful. They watched the sun begin to rise over the horizon, taking its place in the sky surrounded by waves of red, orange, and gold. 

Lance sighed softly, resting his head against Keith’s shoulder while the town below spurred to life. It was nice how domestic their life had become.

“Hey Lance?”

“Hm?”

“I don’t see a future for me without you in it.” Keith said, not realizing the implications of his words, or maybe he did, and those words so carefully chosen to mean exactly what Lance thought. 

“Neither do I.” was Lance’s only response, a faint smile creeping onto his lips. “Are you implying what I think you are?”

“Maybe.” Keith laughed.

“Let’s do it then.”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Dork.”

They kissed softly, relaxing into each other with a sigh. Electricity thrumming through Lance’s veins when he pulled away, one thought apparent in his mind. 

Things were going to be okay. They had each other and that was all that they needed. No matter how silent he might be, his thoughts would always be heard.

 

~End~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And thats the end! Theyre happy boys!

**Author's Note:**

> if anyone has any suggestions for tags, thatd be great!  
> and feel free to yell at me on tumblr over at @black-paladin-babes or @confused-bird!  
> Kudos/comments are appreciated!


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